Exhibition Bitte Lebn

Urban art and social protests in Berlin and Brussels

Urban art on facades, paint on monuments or art actions have appeared in recent years as an expression of social protest in European cities.In Berlin, urban art has developed increasingly since the fall of the Wall, favoured by the specificity of Berlin with its open spaces between the East and West parts, between houses and the cheap rents: Berlin offered artists and activists free space to develop artistically and politically, largely without economic constraints. The Reclaim Your City Collective has been documenting the steadily growing urban art scene since the 2000s, and presents their photo archive and collected artworks in the exhibition Vivz s´il vous plaît! Levn alstublieft!

In recent years, however, it has become apparent that gentrification processes are taking place affecting mostly socially disadvantaged people in multicultural neighbourhoods. These developments intensify social problems in urban society. Discrimination and socio-spatial exclusion generate social tensions and conflicts. Artists and activists protest with art and other interventions in public against discrimination, inequalities and processes of gentrification. They criticise the conditions in the city and create alternative visions of social coexistence. Recently, many protests concerning the colonial history of Berlin are gaining strength, questioning public monuments of the colonial era and thus decolonizing the city. The exhibition Vivz s´il vous plaît! Levn alstublieft! organized by the Goethe-Institut Brussle and curated by Anne Kurr in La Vallee shows photographs and artworks from the social protests in Berlin for a right to the city and for decolonisation.

Berlin is not singular. Such protests and urban art movements can be found everywhere. To promote an exchange, there will be workshops and guided tours of the exhibition Vivz s´il vous plaît! Levn alstublieft!. The exhibition wants to reach young people in particular. Together we want to exchange our different views about how we perceive our lifes in the city and to encourage the participants to shape their city themselves with creativity and joy.
   

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