Visiting friends in Berlin for two nights didn’t leave too much time for art let alone tracking down some Judy Millar to view. Travelling into the city by train and you see graffiiti everywhere and it’s an art form. This post will be more about what I missed than what I saw! I did see Romero Britto’s pop art at Galerie Mensing on Unter den Linden. Liked his 3D work!
Located at the Kulturforum, the Neue Nationalgalerie specialises in modern art from the 20th century. Also there is the Altes Museum, the Gemäldegalerie, and the unusual outdoor East Side Gallery. I had walked the streets to the Kulturforum and into the the Gemäldegalerie – but I had woken too early (2am), walked too far all day and I was done. I could not have done it justice so it was nap time!
Part of the Topography of Terror museum. The preserved section of the Berlin Wall can be seen at the top of the picture.
I also walked through the amazing Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. designed by architect Peter Eisenman and engineer Buro Happold. It consists of a 4.7 acre site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs or “stelae”, arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field.
It is located one block south of the Brandenburg Gate. Most of my walking was in East Berlin, which had an imperial but stark feel.
The next day I was up early and headed to the ‘Topography of Terror’ – an outdoor museum which includes a section of the Berlin Wall. It is located in Niederkirchnerstrasse, on the site of buildings which during the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945 were the headquarters of the Gestapo and the SS. It is well worth a visit.
Martin-Gropius-Bau
Right beside that museum, I discovered Martin-Gropius-Bau – I had no time left to visit this beautiful building and its current exhibitions: Hokusai – Retrospective, Side by Side. Poland – Germany. A 1000 Years of Art and History, and W. Eugene Smith – Photographs A retrospective. The next exhibition opening is Ai Weiwei in New York. Now I want to go back just for one whole day to visit this building.
The architects Martin Gropius and Heino Schmieden originally built the house in the Renaissance style as an arts and crafts museum. The building was severely damaged in 1945 during the last weeks of World War II.
I was meeting up with friends from New Zealand and enjoyed brunch, and a visit to D!s dance studio and saw a friend practising for a show – watch the video of day’s 3 practice, we were watching day 7 .
