Art

The German government returned some of the Benin Bronzes to Nigeria– 125 years after they were stolen by the British troops in 1897. Cultural historian, art and heritage specialist Dr. Oluwatoyin Zainab Sogbesan and Digital heritage specialist Olorunfemi Johnson talk about questions of ownership, historical contexts and the demands of the so-called Restitution Study Group.
 

Queen, The Beatles, Lana del Rey: Pop songs are often about trust – in the Establishment, in others, in ourselves. Over the years, utopian faith has given way to dystopian distrust.
 

2022 was a year of contradictions. While at festivals and sold-out stadium concerts it seemed as though everything was back to pre-pandemic normal, smaller-scale gigs and tours galore were called off – owing to insufficient demand. Economically speaking, it was an anxious year, and musically speaking, all the more provocative: from the clash over the sexist hit party song “Layla” to some raucous grunge anthems and retro R&B that fit right in with the Y2K retro trend. Meanwhile, over in the USA, Kim Petras made history as the most successful German pop singer on the American charts since Nena.

Young rappers of indigenous origins are entering the Brazilian music scene and creating a legion of fans. As they strive to defend the rescue of their own origins and denounce the violence in their communities, they also face prejudice and hate on social networks.

From experimental movements of the 1960s, moving through the gambiarra aesthetics in the 2000s, to the need for exile that is determined by the current political situation, Brazilian artistic production is guided by a kind of motto: to create from material and social adversity, transforming precarity into a conceptual tool.

The renowned art historian Bénédicte Savoy is an expert on the forced appropriation of cultural assets through war and colonialism, an area of research that concerns everyone in Europe. This historical moment is an opportunity for museums and their visitors.

From Stockhausen to Wagner: important composers from past centuries claim to have been inspired whilst asleep. An interview with musicologist Magdalena Zorn about dreams as a source of inspiration, artistic self-portrayal – and what dreamed music actually sounds like.
 

The art world can often be very superficial, criticizes the curator Anne-Marie Melster. Through her “Artport_making waves” collective she wants to take a more content-driven approach and illustrate that art, science and politics can complement one another in the area of climate change. 

Graffiti, street art and murals: large-scale wall art is something that’s become an intrinsic part of the streetscape in many towns and cities. We take you on a quick tour through Germany.
 

Every five years, coinciding with the municipal elections, artists, architects, and designers from the city of Montevideo join in an artistic-political campaign parallel to the elections. With a perspective rooted in the artistic field, the project calls for the participation of society to reimagine what life in the city can be like.

Over the past 20 years, the fossil fuel industry  has been responsible for three-fourths of human-caused carbon emissions on the planet. Part of the cultural sector also draws its funding from fossil fuels. The Fossil Free Culture initiative wants to tackle this.

The long-time chief designer at the German consumer products company, Braun, Dieter Rams, knew how to design industrial products unobtrusively and clearly. His creations became timeless classics and an inspiration for other technology manufacturers – for example, for Apple.

Racism, abuse of power, Covid – 2021 was another year of controversy and profound social debate in the early, new and classical music scene. Hannah Schmidt looks back on some of the main issues and incidents – and how the German classical music scene coped with another pandemic year.

Artificial intelligence making art puts a new spin on age-old questions, such as if AI art can really be called art, and who gets credit as the artist – the machine, the programmer or the person whose data was fed into the algorithm.

Artists with intellectual impairments should have the same opportunities as others – but that isn’t always the case. Katja de Bragança from the participative research institute TOUCHDOWN 21 talks about the options available to artists with a disability in Germany.

In the last two years, Brazil has set a sad new record: 30 percent of the Pantanal ecosystem has been burned in just one year. An artist from São Paulo wants to draw attention to this.

Art in urban spaces is about so much more than just colourful walls: It can also be a central element of social change. Two street art projects in Cologne and Dusseldorf are using art to increase participation and social cohesion.
 

Pressure on the German theatre and cultural landscape has increased significantly since the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany party won seats in parliament. The institutions have developed ways to deal with right-wing attacks – in part by joining together in solidarity.

For decades, Maria Eichhorn has critically explored both social power relations and the art system itself in her work. Now she has an exhibition planned for the German Pavilion at the 2022 Biennale in Venice.

What makes Leipzig so special? Is it the trade fair city’s long tradition as a trade hub, adventures outdoors, or perhaps its colourful art scene? Our author Tanja Grevismühl explores Leipzig’s classical highlights and adds some you are not likely to find in a travel guide.

On the Polish border to Belarus, Belarusian artists exhibit art which they would no longer be able to show in their homeland. Around the corner is the war in Ukraine. The “taz”- journalist Julia Hubernagel went there for first-hand impressions.

The exhibition series “Invisible Inventories” showcases the results of an international research project whose aim is to build a database of Kenyan art objects in museums in Europe and North America. Shortly before the digital exhibition opening, Clara Himmelheber from the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum and Frauke Gathof from the Weltkulturen Museum talk about the work on establishing an equal relationship.

A blockchain technology is making waves in the art scene. For the first time, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are making it possible to trade digital art just like paintings, sculptures or photographs – and charge equally high prices. We look at what non-fungible tokens are all about and how they can bring in so much money.