黑料不打烊

The two chapters of the exhibition highlight the artists鈥� different perspectives, along with the contexts in which the works were created. The impetus came from Arno Rink鈥檚 painting Portrait Henry Schumann (1968) (Portrait of Henry Schumann), which depicts the art historian and critic in Rink鈥檚 studio, as well as Schumann鈥檚 book Ateliergespr盲che (Studio Conversations). In this publication, released in 1976 by the Leipzig press VEB E. A. Seemann, 20 artists exchange their views with him. Well-known personalities such as Bernhard Heisig and Werner T眉bke appear alongside artists with unconventional training and career paths such as Peter Herrmann. This unusual mixture of artists and the focus on their individual voices signaled a relaxation of cultural policy at the time, yet this was marred in the same year (1976) by a series of cultural-political and social events like the expatriation of the poet and song writer Wolf Biermann.

In the first exhibition space, the artworks and the artists鈥� conversations with Schumann will be placed into a historical context. On the upper floor of MINSK, individual works come into dialogue with one another. These constellations open up a perspective onto broader questions about the history of art and cultural policy in the GDR after the year 1976. The selection is complemented by other works from the collection that illustrate the dynamic between expression and withdrawal, between speaking out and silence. 

IN DIALOGUE also provides occasion for a new series of studio conversations conducted by curator Daniel Milnes with artists from the collection, which will be released as a podcast series to accompany the exhibition. In this context, works from the collection will be examined from the artists鈥� perspective as well as how art created in the GDR is seen and shown today.