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

The New York Times wrote in 1987 in an article titled ‘Berlin by Night’ that ‘John le Carré sends one of his characters in a melancholy mood to Berlin: “Scared of himself he hastened to a fashionable Greek nightclub he knew of, run by a woman of cosmopolitan wisdom”.’ This woman is Fofi and this is her story (and how we met her):  

Raul Keller is a young Estonian artist whose works can currently be seen in Kumu’s exhibition ‘Out of Sync – Looking back at the History of Sound Art’ (until January 12, 2014). Right at the beginning of his talk he informs us that he does not actively consider himself a sound artist:

‘I work predominantly with sound but also with photography, the fine arts and text. I think John used a very nice term: ‘auditory culture’ – the contemporary field which embraces music and sound art approaches and somehow blends them with popular culture and different practices.’  

“Most people would probably say that architecture does not produce sound, it cannot be heard. But neither does it radiate light yet it can be seen. We see the light it reflects and thereby gain an impression of form and material. In the same way we hear the sounds it reflects and they, too, give us an impression of form and material”

(Steen Eiler Rasmussen – Experiencing Architecture (1959)

In the second part of our symposium, the American artist John Grzinich, based in Estonia, talked about the project ‘tuned city: architecture and sound’ in Tallinn. 

‘How can you make art accessible and understandable for kids?’ was a question we asked Jane Meresmaa-Roos, one of Kumu’s museum educators. Her approach was to ask questions which the kids could not simply answer with ‘yes’ or ‘no’ thereby stimulating their imagination. Another one was to make the materials used in art more familiar by letting the kids experience them: Is stone cold and how warm is wood? What sound does glass make and how much does a bronze statue weigh? How hard is it to throw a leaf made of paper and how easy is it to mold clay? 

The story of a museum is written not only by its objects and exhibitions but also and foremost by its visitors. Without its visitors, as Jane put it, a museum is ‘just a room with beautiful paintings, sculptures and installations’. To fill it with life, you need people who are willing to experience what a museum has to offer. To bring the museum’s objects to life, you need someone who can tell their story. One of these people is Jane Meresmaa-Roos, who works at Kumu’s Art Education Programme.