Press release
BERLIN x BISHKEK ART WEEKS
An international art festival on the topic of migration with a focus on Central Asia.
From 12.05. – 28.05.23 the former car dealership on Moritzplatz in Berlin Kreuzberg will become a place of encounter. Initiated by young creatives from Berlin and Bishkek, the capital of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, the intercultural art festival ‘Berlin Bishkek Art Weeks’ will take place there. With a diverse supporting programme, the European migration debate is to be met with dialogue, exchange and transnational solidarity – but above all with art and culture.
Location:
Prinzessinnenstraße 21-24,10969 Berlin Kreuzberg
Kontakt:
Keshia Luna Biedermann (production manager)
Mail: keshia@studiokoa.berlin Tel: +49 172 7068587
“We want to make a statement against the current shift to the right in Europe,” says Louise Amelie, the project’s co-founder and photographer. The art festival is therefore actively committed to global civil rights and opposed to nationalist tendencies. The aim is to create a platform that encourages visitors to actively engage in the discussion. A wide variety of artistic and multimedia perspectives encourage visitors to explore the topic of migration in depth. These include classical painting, installations, sculptures, performance art, video art, animations, and photography.
As well as being socially and politically relevant, the festival also showcases a young, up-and-coming and almost unknown art scene. “By focusing on Central Asia, a region that remains largely overlooked from a Western perspective, we aim to broaden the Eurocentric view of migration and facilitate mutual learning,” says Andreas Bauer, curator of the Berlin Bishkek Art Weeks. “This event is a spectacular display of art and culture, dialogue, exchange and festive encounters that sheds a positive light on the topic, inspires rethinking and provides solutions — or at least fantastic discussion topics,” adds the curator.
The intercultural and interdisciplinary art exhibition deals with the topic of transnational migration in a serious, critical, young and uncomplicated way. It is just one part of a large project promoting exchange between two cultural regions, particularly Kyrgyzstan and Germany.
The event is taking place at a former car dealership in Prinzessinnenstraße. Pandion AG made the location available as a space for interim cultural use.
This project began with a research and documentation trip to Kyrgyzstan in summer 2021, titled ‘Missing Member – Kyrgyzstan: A Country on the Move’, which was funded by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. Project founders Louise Amelie and Darja Nesterowa, a social worker, travelled the country, focusing on labour migration, and encountered a thriving, young art scene in the capital, Bishkek. Back in Berlin, they teamed up with the creative studio KOA to create the vision for a joint art project.
‘Every new beginning starts with young people. It’s about finding common ground in our struggle for a global future,’ says Darja Nesterowa.
Supporting programme:
– exhibition with Central Asian + Berlin artists (15 artists from Kyrgyzstan are present)
– publication of the photo book ‘Missing Member’ by Louise Amelie,
– panel discussions, workshops, dance performances, concerts & sound sessions, open-air cinema/movie screenings, grand finissage with party, art auction and much more.
Project partners:
Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, VG-Bildkunst, Phase One, Hatje Cantz, Artco Gallery, thxa again, West-Eastern Encounters Foundation, Studio KOA, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, 17 HEROES e.V., Fotopioniere, KYD Berlin, Hostel Ballhaus Ost, Pandion AG, Transiträume Berlin e.V., Novastan, Stiftungsverein Bildung-Initiative-Zusammenarbeit e.V. (BiZ)
Read more about the project “Missing Member – Kyrgyzstan a country on the move” here.
Links:
Website: https://bb-artweeks.com
StartNext Kampagne: https://www.startnext.com/berlin-bishkek-art-weeks
Instagram: https://instagram.com/bb_artweeks?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V4jX8-Q51E
Photo: Louise Amelie
Graphics & Edit: Studio KOA Berlin