Europe, Headlines

GERMANY: Berlin Emerges as Arts Centre

Clive Freeman

BERLIN, Jun 18 2008 (IPS) - Renowned for its rich assortment of music, opera and theatre life, Berlin is today the centre of the German art scene. A magnet for artists from around the world, thanks to its freewheeling lifestyle and abundance of low-cost studios, the German capital now increasingly attracts artists, international dealers and collectors.

A decade ago Germany’s art scene was mainly centred in the prosperous industrial west of the country – in cities like Cologne, Dusseldorf and Kassel. Berlin, heavily in debt and devoid of wealthy art entrepreneurs, had lost its reputation for arts patronage.

Now, that has changed. Along with London, Paris and New York, Berlin is seen as a ‘must’ stop-off destination for international art gurus seeking modern and contemporary German works, and new trends in art.

Typical of recent arrivals is Christian Boros, a wealthy German entrepreneur and art collector who moved to the German capital three years ago from Wuppertal in western Germany. He’s built a gallery on several floors of a five-storey former Nazi era bunker, located a short distance from the Friedrichstadt Palast, Europe’s largest variety theatre.

Boros has had architects revamp the bunker interior floor by floor so that he can show to the best advantage his impressive collection of more than 400 modern art works. Atop the bunker he resides in a luxury penthouse, complete with swimming pool, garden area, and a magnificent view across the town.

During World War II, the bunker had served as a refuge for thousands of German railway workers during British and U.S. bombing raids.

One of Berlin’s growing number of rich art collectors is Reinhard Onnasch. The wealthy property dealer operates his unlikely sounding El Sourdog Hex gallery and private art foundation at a prime location near the Checkpoint Charlie Museum documenting Berlin Wall escapes.

Onnasch has more than 1,000 internationally valuable paintings, sculptures and drawings by such artists as George Brecht, Kenneth Noland, Jason Rhodoes, Edward Kienholz, William N.Copley, Lowell Nesbitt and Gianni Piacentino, which he has collected over a 40-year period.

Unlike most other galleries, Onnasch exhibits but never sells his art works. When he opened the El Sourdog Hex Gallery last year he set himself a target of three years in which to exhibit all his art. Once that is done, he will close down the gallery in early 2010.

Another powerful figure on the Berlin art scene is Guenter Diehl, who even in the Cold War years was busy staging contemporary art shows in the western half of the city.

Today, Diehl operates two up-market galleries; one in the bustling Berlin Mitte (Central) district where dozens of art galleries have sprouted in the past decade, the other in Moscow where he recently became the first western art dealer to open a gallery on the city’s posh Smolenskayer Embankment.

Diehl says there are similarities between the art scene developments in Berlin and Moscow in recent years. Berlin, he says, was in “start-up mode” after reunification, with dozens of galleries suddenly being created in the 1990s, as it opened its doors to the international art market.

In Russia similar trends were to be observed. “In the past two or three years the art world changed so much and so fast in Moscow that I took the decision to take gallery space there,” says Diehl, whose 600-square-metre gallery in the Russian capital opened two months ago.

“We had a big response, with lots of visitors showing interest in the spectacular light installations of artist Jenny Holzer,” he says.

Diehl says Berlin’s geographical location in the heart of Europe means it is within easy reach of Prague, Moscow, Paris and London. “The art world drew that much closer after the Berlin Wall toppled, and communism collapsed in eastern Europe.”

The impact of globalisation on art fascinates Diehl. He says the artists he represents come from many parts of the world, including India, Korea, Russia and the U.S., as well as Europe. “I’m interested in the way artists from different cultural, historical and economic backgrounds react to their surroundings.”

Busy capturing headlines currently on the emerging Berlin art scene is the Indian-born international media artist Shilpa Gupta, presenting her first monograph exhibition in Berlin.

“It’s an exhibition of several media with photos and videos, and is really about everyday life and how small things can become part of larger political structures, sometimes unknowingly,” she tells IPS.

The Mumbai-based artist, whose work has been exhibited around the world in the past decade, says she loves Berlin. “The special thing is you can see so much history in the city. I also love its art scene, galleries and institutions. They are so fresh and raw, and not at all commercialised.”