Deutsches Historisches Museum - Verf�hrung Freiheit. Kunst in Europa seit 1945 - Blog

Probably the most exciting part of the exhibition for everyone is the installation of the artworks. This is normally planned to take place 10 to 14 days before the exhibition opens. Pieces of art arrive nearly daily from around Europe and around the world. The works are brought to the museum by professional art transportation companies, unpacked by specialists, and stored in the museum interim depot.  

"I wanted to create a painting that you could not enter. You need to stay on the surface."

Tjebbe Beekman has his studio in Berlin Hohenschönhausen. Anyone who immediately thinks of the Stasi (State Security Service) Prison Memorial there is right on. His studio is right next door. The industrial building, where many artists work, exudes a menacing charm. The previously-visited Memorial adds to this impression. The large-format photograph Stasi City by Jane and Louise Wilson from our exhibition also plays it part. 

The Romanian artist, Dan Perjovschi, takes 69 seconds to draw his picture on the wall in our exhibition space. In 69 seconds the word ‘capitalism’ is split in two and illustrated. ‘Capital’ gets a stick figure and the ‘ism’ a whole crowd of them. Once or twice the artist steps back a bit and looks at the drawing. Then he enlarges the ‘ism’ group.  

At the end of the video Vladimir Mitrev looks up, directly into the camera, sweating—beneath one sees the German national flag, whose colours he has just applied in four hours, or some ten kilometres, of walking. His video installation is titled Schwarz Rot Gelb (2009–2011) [Black Red Yellow]

The path to Germany is not an easy one. 

“A man found an aquarium on a road between towns—an aquarium with live fish in it. Someone had caught the fish in the lake and put them there on the road, hoping someone driving along the road would stop and buy the fresh fish. That is called a parallel economy—in contrast to the organised economy planned by the government and the state. This parallel economy developed as a way of survival.”