Beyond the Screen – Reflections On The Public Sphere

Videostill Kristina Paustian, Positions, 2018 © die Künstlerin / n.b.k. | 1x1 © Kristina Paustian / n.b.k.

From September 2023 to early February 2024, the Goethe-Institut Montreal, in cooperation with the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.), presents a programme of 20 video works from n.b.k Video-Forum’s extensive video art collection, curated by Anna Lena Seiser (Head of Collection n.b.k. Video-Forum).

On display are videos by renowned artists from Germany, such as Hito Steyerl, Alicia Kwade and Antje Ehmann, who are no strangers to Quebec - but also video works by international artists, such as Pilvi Takala, Richard Serra and Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries.

On the one hand, the selected works reflect - sometimes critically, but also humorously - the geographical position of the projection screens at the Goethe-Institut Montreal, in the middle of the city, at a busy intersection on Ontario Street and St. Laurent Boulevard, i.e. a place of urban passage, but on the other hand they also represent the diversity of the n.b.k. Video-Forum collection.

The individual films will each be shown for a week from sunset to 2:00 a.m. on the three external projection screens of the Goethe-Institut Montreal at 1626 Boul. St-Laurent, and can be viewed on an indoor screen during the Institut's opening hours. 

  • „S.C.H.A.F.E.“ von Wolf Kahlen © Wolf Kahlen/n.b.k.

    "S.C.H.A.F.E." by Wolf Kahlen (1975)

  • "SORRY" by Stefan Panhans © Stefan Panhans/n.b.k.

    "SORRY" by Stefan Panhans (2010)

  • "A Crisis of Everything and Nothing" by Young Hae Chang Heavy Industries © Young Hae Chang Heavy Industries/n.b.k.

    "A Crisis of Everything and Nothing" by Young Hae Chang Heavy Industries (2023)

  • "e-constellations" by Tomas Schmit © Tomas Schmit/n.b.k.

    "e-constellations" by Tomas Schmit (2004)

  • "How to make a Revolution" by Lucia Tkácová and Anetta Mona Chisa © Lucia Tkácová, Anetta Mona Chisa/n.b.k.

    "How to make a Revolution" by Lucia Tkácová and Anetta Mona Chisa (2006)

  • "Positions" by Kristina Paustian © Kristina Paustian/n.b.k.

    "Positions" by Kristina Paustian (2018)

  • "In the event of amnesia the city will recall … " by Denis Beaubois © Denis Beaubois/n.b.k.

    "In the event of amnesia the city will recall … " by Denis Beaubois (1997)

  • "Strike" by Hito Steyerl © Hito Steyerl/n.b.k.

    "Strike" by Hito Steyerl (2010)

 

 

About the project

Founded in 1969 in Berlin, the Neue Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) is dedicated to promoting contemporary art.

The project was prompted by the anniversaries of the collaborating institutions - in 2022 the Goethe-Institut Montreal celebrated its 60th anniversary, and in 2021 the n.b.k. Video Forum looked back on 50 years of activity. Founded in 1971 on the initiative of artists and cultural producers in Berlin, the Video-Forum is the oldest and largest video art collection in Germany with 1,700 works of international video art. The collection focuses on Fluxus, feminist video practice, historical and contemporary video art from Berlin and media-reflexive approaches.

List of works:
  • Wolf Kahlen, S.C.H.A.F.E., 1975
  • Lucia Tkácová / Anetta Mona Chisa, How to make a Revolution, 2006
  • Hito Steyerl, Strike, 2010
  • Stefan Panhans, SORRY, 2010
  • Alicja Kwade, In Ewig den Zufall betrachtend, 2014
  • Harun Farocki, Umgießen, 2010
  • Tomas Schmit, e-constellations, 2004
  • Pilvi Takala, Worker’s Forum, 2015
  • Antje Ehmann / Eva Stotz, Labour in a Single Shot: Marseille. Potrait of a City, 2018
  • Corinna Schnitt, Once upon the time, 2006
  • Denis Beaubois, In the event of amnesia the city will recall … , 1997
  • Kristina Paustian, Positions, 2018
  • Eli Cortiñas, Walls Have Feelings, 2019
  • Richard Serra / Nancy Holt, Boomerang, 1974
  • Asta Gröting, PARKEN, 2001
  • Lerato Shadi, Selogilwe, 2010
  • Claus Böhmler, Record Archive on Videotape, 1987
  • Les Levine, I am an Artist, 1979
  • Michael Geißler / Rosalia Müller, Video – Ich sehe mich / Mimikry, 1977
  • Pauline Boudry / Renate Lorenz, To Valerie Solanas and Marilyn Monroe in Recognition of their Desparation, 2013
  • YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES, A CRISIS OF EVERYTHING AND NOTHING, 2023
 All dates and details
 

Anna Lena Seiser

Anna Lena Seiser
Anna Lena Seiser | © Ina Niehoff
Anna Lena Seiser is managing director of Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) and head of the n.b.k. Video-Forum, the oldest and one of the biggest public video art collections in Germany. From 2015–2019 she was curator at Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, where she implemented extensive solo and group exhibitions with international artists. Previously, from 2011–2015 Seiser worked for the German Academic Scholarship Foundation as well as for the postgraduate Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Scholarship program for Visual Artists. She was part of the program team of transmediale - festival for arts and digital culture in Berlin in 2009–2010. Seiser is author and editor of several catalogues. Her recent projects include solo exhibitions and site-specific installations with a. o., Rosa Barba, Loretta Fahrenholz, Claire Fontaine, Simon Fujiwara, Sharon Hayes, Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader, Laura Lima, Cinthia Marcelle, Megan Rooney, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, Karin Sander or Sung Tieu.
 

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