100 Days a Journey – A journey 30 years back

This year is the third year that have been taking part in a 100 days arts challenge. In the previous years I was focusing on material exploration and developing my practical skills further (see here).

This year I decided to develop a whole new Body of Work revisiting my city of Berlin of the 70’s and 80’s while it (and Germany) was still divided into two countries with two different political systems.

The 9^th of November 2019 marks the 30^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. This is not only the biggest historical event in recent German history but also heralding the end of the cold war and the iron curtain.

I wanted to take this event as an opportunity to remember the painful separation of my country and acknowledge the people power of the East German Volk to peacefully push the GDR regime towards liberation and freedom for a reunified Germany.

The 100 days were filled with research (reading, asking, listening, watching), experimenting with ideas and eventually reviewing, refining and finishing the work using concrete as my chosen medium for this project.

Concrete is raw, cold, heavy and usually found in urban spaces; pretty much opposite conditions and material I am normally work with. Yet, concrete is familiar, I grew up with it and it was that material that gave me shelter and security when I was a child. It feels home.

Going back in time stirred up memories, happy ones and sad ones, memories of people that aren’t here anymore and people I lost contact with. The most I regret is that they are people such as my grandparents and my father that lived through the time and some of their stories I remember but others I can’t ask for anymore.

The outcome of the 100 days is a series of new work; a selection is currently exhibited at the 100 Day a Journey exhibition at Tutere Gallery in Waikanae, opened last Friday. Running until the 10th of November.