Workshop Organized by Cluster Member Kaja Ninnis Together with Ursula Ströbele
What happens before matter becomes art – what happens before the object? This workshop at Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig, November 21st-23rd, 2024, is dedicated to exploring not artworks but the »stuff« artworks are made of and the ecological implications of their procurement, processing, and transport, aiming at uncovering what Laura Turner Igoe has called »the ecological unconscious of art matter.« The workshop is organized by Kaja Ninnis (HU Berlin / Matters of Activity) and Ursula Ströbele (HBK Braunschweig).
Film and Discussion with Cluster Professor Robert Stock and Film Director Susana de Sousa Dias
The film »Fordlandia Malaise« deals with the memory and present of Fordlandia (Brazil). Henry Ford had the company town built in the Amazon rainforest in 1928. His ambition was to end the British rubber monopoly by using raw material from Brazil for the car production in the United States. Following the film screening, Susana de Sousa Dias, director of the film and scholar of the Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD, and Robert Stock will reflect on what characterizes this film and this type of documentary.
At Kunstgewerbemuseum on 23 February
The Round Table »On Fibers and Mixtures« was part of the format series accompanying the exhibition »Design Lab #13: Material Legacies« at Kunstgewerbemuseum and at the same time its closing event. The Round Tables represented each of the exhibiting projects and the involved researchers and artists in a moderated dialogue with guests from different disciplines. The format brought a variety of perspectives to the exhibited works, its material legacies, and entangled discourses and invites the public to engage. On February 23rd, Professor for material design and Cluster Member Christiane Sauer discussed their work with Emanuele Coccia, Peter Fratzl, and Beatriz Morales, moderated by architect and Cluster Member Iva Rešetar.
Transdisciplinary Hands-On Workshop at Kunstgewerbemuseum on February 18
Initiated by the »Architectural Yarns« Research Group at the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity. Image Space Material«, the Workshop FIBROUS EXCHANGE revisits the Work Exotica III by Ritzi Jacobi and takes inspiration for a transdisciplinary exchange between textile design, materials science and architecture. During a hands-on exploration with off-the-loom textile techniques, we seek to transfer knowledge from the different disciplines into an architectural context. We take a closer look at plant fibers and various reversible binding techniques to explore large fiber bundles as the basis for a new construction method - Architectural Yarns.
On 9 February at Kunstgewerbemuseum
The Round Table »Politics and Poetics of Sand« was part of the format series accompanying the exhibition »Design Lab #13: Material Legacies« at Kunstgewerbemuseum. The Round Tables represented each of the exhibiting projects and the involved researchers and artists in a moderated dialogue with guests from different disciplines. The format brought a variety of perspectives to the exhibited works, its material legacies and entangled discourses and invited the public to engage. On February 9th design anthropologist and Cluster Member Michaela Büsse discussed her work with geographer Katherine Dawson (University College London), communication expert Hannah Tollefson (McGill University Montreal) and environmental anthropologist Jerry Zee (Princeton University). Moderation: Jeff Diamanti (University of Amsterdam).
On January 26 at Kunstgewerbemuseum
We cordially invite you to the Round Table »Rinde: Gestaltung mit Resten« which continues the format series accompanying the exhibition »Design Lab #13: Material Legacies« at Kunstgewerbemuseum. The Round Tables represent each of the exhibiting projects and the involved researchers and artists in a moderated dialogue with guests from different disciplines. The format brings a variety of perspectives to the exhibited works, its material legacies and entangled discourses and invites the public to engage. On January 26th designer and Cluster Member Charlett Wenig will discuss her work with Ferréol Berendt (HNE Eberswalde) and Nikolaus Stolle (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt). Moderated by cultural theorist and Cluster Member Robert Stock.
On 12 January 2023 at Kunstgewerbemuseum
The Round Table »On the Fabrication of Organs: Vascular Structures, Medical Needs and Critical Speculations« continues the format series accompanying the exhibition »Design Lab #13: Material Legacies« at Kunstgewerbemuseum. The Round Tables represent each of the exhibiting projects and the involved researchers and artists in a moderated dialogue with guests from different disciplines. The format brings a variety of perspectives to the exhibited works, its material legacies and entangled discourses and invites the public to engage. On January 12th Emile de Visscher and Igor Sauer will discuss their work with the artist Lyndsey Walsh. Moderated by Martin Müller.
On December 8 at Kunstgewerbemuseum
The Round Table »Tessellated Material Systems«« continued the new format series accompanying the exhibition »Design Lab #13: Material Legacies« at Kunstgewerbemuseum. The Round Tables represent each of the exhibiting projects and the involved researchers and artists in a moderated dialogue with guests from different disciplines. The format brings a variety of perspectives to the exhibited works, its material legacies and entangled discourses and invites the public to engage. This Thursday, Karola Dierichs, Lennart Eigen, John Nyakatura and Felix Rasehorn discussed their work with Jörg Petruschat and Alwin Cubasch.
On 24 November at Kunstgewerbemuseum
The Round Table »Self-Shaping Textiles at the Intersection of Fashion, Architecture and Technology« kicked off a new format series accompanying the exhibition »Design Lab #13: Material Legacies« at Kunstgewerbemuseum. The Round Tables represent each of the exhibiting project in a moderated dialogue with guests from different disciplines. The format brings a variety of perspectives to the exhibited works, its material legacies and entangled discourses and invites the public to engage. On November 24th Lorenzo Guiducci and Agata Kycia discussed their work with the architect Giovanni Betti and the fashion sociologist Antonella Giannone.
Workshops and Interactive Performance with Dorte Bjerre Jensen
Exhibition at Kunstgewerbemuseum
By engaging with a series of different materials and techniques the exhibition encompassed both the problematization of unsustainable pasts and presents as well as the imagination of speculative material futures. Taking materiality as a starting point, each of the exhibits investigated its sociocultural, economic, and political context in order to disentangle the multiple interrelations that arise from and with materials. more
MoA's Showroom and Workspace
With the »Activarium«, we want to actively engage with potential partners from the industry, start-ups, NGOs, politics and society as a whole to initiate an exploratory exchange on active materials, bio- & culture-inspired innovation as well as sustainability approaches. We want visitors to experience our prototypes to make MoA’s intentions and research tangible and accessible. The »Activarium« serves as a work-in-progress showcase of different research strands and processes. Our visitors can dive into the research as it's happening, before its published results.
Walk in and experience the »Activarium« Tuesdays, 10.00 am–12.15 pm or Thursdays, 2.00–4.00 pm! If you are a group of more than 5 people or if the opening hours do not fit your schedule, please contact us via moa.activarium@hu-berlin.de to schedule a visit!