26 Apr 2010

THE KNOT opens in Berlin

THE KNOT – linking the existing with the imaginary

Berlin/Warsaw/Bucharest
BERLIN 28 April – 30 May 2010 / Pre-Opening 28 April 2010, Opening 29 April 2010
WARSAW 16 June – 18 July 2010 / Opening 16 June 2010
BUCHAREST 8 – 31 October 2010 / Opening 8 October 2010

BERLIN
Kulturforum. 28 April – 01 May 2010
Pre-Opening. Wednesday, 28 April 2010, from 6:00 p.m.
Opening. Thursday, 29 April 2010, from 1:00 p.m.
Grand Opening Party, from 8 p.m.

Mariannenplatz. 02 – 16 May 2010
Tempelhof Airfield. 17 – 30 May 2010

THE KNOT is a mobile platform for artistic production and presentation that occupies different public places in the cities of Berlin, Warsaw and Bucharest from the end of April till end of October 2010. Conceived as a nomadic, temporary site, THE KNOT creates an innovative framework for performing the habitual as well as the unexpected. It is a new site for experiencing different modes of interaction and cooperation, for exchanging theoretical and practical knowledge, and for testing various fields of engagement with the public sphere. The core venue for all project activities is a specially designed architectural structure, adaptable to the diverse urban situations it encounters, and inspirational for a wider discussion on the shapes of tomorrow's agoras. In its lightweight, easily expandable form, the mobile unit fits a multitude of heterogeneous uses and creates a temporary and hospitable shelter for different activities, many of them simultaneous. The public is invited to take part in the production of the various projects, to engage in discussion, eating, drinking, listening, walk-and-talk-ing, playing sports or telling stories.
 
The KNOT program is a compilation of ongoing projects, realized by KNOT residents – Pola Dwurnik, Roman Dziadkiewicz, h.arta, Katharina Koch, Heimo Lattner, Kai Schiemenz, <>TAG and Michelle Teran; site-specific artistic works, morning and evening actions, debates or concerts, workshops on critical urban issues as well as a series of plug-in events which link to the context of its surrounding spaces. The program is a live, ongoing process and is constantly updated and published on www.knotland.net.

In Berlin THE KNOT opens at Kulturforum, which has existed as a controversial site of cultural representation and negotiations of urban development since the beginning of its inception in early '70s.

From the 28th of April to the 1st of May, THE KNOT will actively use the vacant open space near the St. Matthew's Church, between the State Library and the complex of art institutions Gemäldegalerie/ Kunstbibliothek/ Kunstgewerbemuseum, between Neue Nationalgalerie and Philharmonie. In Mariannenplatz, in the densely populated Kreuzberg, THE KNOT continues its series of intense work processes and discursive practices, and seeks concentrated links with the environment. As a recent example in the debate over the redevelopment of existing urban facilities, the site of the former airport Tempelhof is the final station of THE KNOT in Berlin before the project is transported to Warsaw and then to Bucharest.

Participants in Berlin:
8Rolek & Tsar Poloz, Prof. Georg Augustin, Berliner Gazette with Caspar Clemens Mierau & Magdalena Taube, Bricolagekitchen with Oneoftheroughs, Boris Buden, Centrala, Critical Practice, Pola Dwurnik, Roman Dziadkiewicz, Joanna Erbel, Vasile Ernu, Exzyst, Graw Böckler, h.arta, Owen Hatherley, Helmut Hoege, IFAU, Kashanti, Claus Käpplinger, Katharina Koch, Wojtek Kosma feat. Dwayne Browne, Kottishop with Stefan Endewardt & Anne Kohl & Christopher Robotham & Philipp Winkelmeier, MichaÅ‚ KozÅ‚owski, Kasia Krakowiak, Maciej Kurak, Heimo Lattner, Ewa Majewska, Massmix, Lopez Mausere, metroZones, Modulorbeat, Vlad Morariu, Marion von Osten, ParadisGaraj & The Bureau of Melodramatic Research & Olivia MihÄ?lÅ£ianu, Stefanie Peter, raumlabor, Reactor, Barbara Reisinger, Natalia Romik, Tomek Sacilowski & Igor Krenz, Kai Schiemenz, Schtraf, Janek Simon, Simon Sheikh, Janek Sowa, Peter Spillmann, Szabó Péter/ Jackie Triste & Margitházi Beata, <>TAG, Michelle Teran, Ovidiu Å¢ichindeleanu, Kathrin Wildner, Dilmana Yordanova & Mihaela Kavdanska.

Opening programme:
Kulturforum, Matthäikirchplatz 1, 10785 Berlin

Wednesday, 28 April:
starting with 6 p.m., pre-opening.

Thursday, 29 April:
starting with 1 p.m., official opening.
Inauguration of site-specific, commissioned projects and beginning of ongoing projects:
Kasia Krakowiak: Almost Amusing: Rainbow, installation and performance
Janek Simon: Customs Sculpture [Zollskulptur], installation and performance
Pola Dwurnik: Mapping the KNOT, drawings
Roman Dziadkiewicz: Romences, daily life performance
h.arta: Inspired by Life, a Timisoara-Berlin-Warsaw-Bucharest Clothing Collection, workshop, installation, discussions
Katharina Koch: Film documentation THE KNOT
Kai Schiemenz: House of the Blurry Edges, performative sculpture

From 5 p.m.
Massmix: Mass van Dalism, participative artistic action

From 6 p.m.
Wojtek Kosma feat. Dwayne Browne: Body Cash, social game, performance

From 8 p.m.
Grand Opening Party, Boombx-Party (bring your own radio)

Friday, 30 April
From 4 p.m.
Claus Käpplinger and Guest: What is Contemporary at the Kulturforum as a place for a multitude of past futures?, promenade and discussion to the Kulturforum

From 6 p.m.
Owen Hatherley: An Empty Space Creates a Richly Filled Time, lecture

From 7 p.m.
Vasile Ernu: On the Soviet Cultural Underground, lecture

From 8 p.m.
Boris Buden, Vasile Ernu, h.arta, Peter Spillmann, Marion von Osten, Ovidiu Ţichindeleanu and guests: After-Life of Communism. Some Positions on Political Imagination, evening talks with drinks and snacks

Saturday, 1 May
From 12 p.m.
KNOT Team and guests: Never Work II, or the Endless Praise of Laziness

From 3 p.m.
Ping Pong Country and the curators: Battle for the Golden Key to Kulturforum, table-tennis tournament

Further details on the programme on www.knotland.net.
Press contact in Berlin:

Fiona Geuß

fiona@knotland.net

Tel. 00491712646412

THE KNOT is curated by Markus Bader (raumlabor berlin), Oliver Baurhenn (DISK/CTM), Kuba Szreder, Raluca Voinea (E-cart.ro). THE KNOT is organized by: Goethe-Institut, Polnisches Institut Berlin, raumlabor Berlin and Asociatia E-cart.ro. THE KNOT is funded by: EU-Culture Programme 2007-2013, Hauptstadtkulturfonds Berlin. THE KNOT is supported by: Goethe-Institut, Polish Institute, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.), Romanian Cultural Institute Berlin & Warsaw, Austrian Cultural Forum. Partners of the THE KNOT are: Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Fundacja Bęc Zmiana, Skulpturenpark Berlin/KUNSTrePublik e.V., DISK e.V. & CTM. THE KNOT is hosted by: HAU - Hebbel Theater Berlin GmbH. THE KNOT is part of The Promised City, a cultural initiative between Berlin and Warsaw with program elements also in Mumbai and Bucharest.