THE SPACE BETWEEN US, curated by Marie-Hélène Gutberlet, engages with the trans-African, transcultural and transcontinental interrelations extending all the way to Germany. It focuses on artistic positions that connect with critical theoretical discourses and in so doing render visible the history of the relations and their resonances. The presented works examine these relations and mark the trans-African presences in Berlin, which, although having existed for a long time, are barely visible.

The project makes use of various exhibition formats: the display of photographic reproductions on large-scale advertising panels in the public space, the presentation of experimental positions at the ifa-Gallery, a reading room, a music convention, a film program, city excursions and dialogical guided tours. The variety of formats—and their interconnections, the movements they provoke—mirrors the variety and at the same the specificity of each position and medium, manifesting our mutual relationships and relating to the urban environment, to exhibition space, club and cinema, to spaces for thinking and speaking.

Exhibitions at the ifa Galleries
The base stations of the project, the ifa Galleries in Berlin and Stuttgart, will be oriented towards addressing approaches to mobility, to hybrid forms and the crisis of exhibition, « ethnographical objects ». The works formulate approaches and try to find experimental strategies of engaging with the trans-African space, the history (of art), influenced as it was by colonialism and ethnology and the present (conceived as simultaneously different).

With works by Satch Hoyt, Serge Alain Nitegeka, Branwen Okpako, Lisl Ponger, Dierk Schmidt,

Opening: 26th September 2013, 7 pm

Exhibition in the Public Space
The exhibition will be presented in the public space of Berlin and Stuttgart. Several advertising spaces have been rented to serve as constant venues, a number of available panels will be added at random.
The conscious propinquity to advertisement intends to draw attention to the product and to give it away at the same time. It questions the space of encounter between art and its audience, the exclusiveness of access to art in exhibition spaces, the relevance of the public, and the visibility of the mobility of images and people.

With works by Mansour Ciss Kanakassy, Emmanuel Bakary Daou, Fatoumata Diabaté, Abrie Fourie, Ayana V Jackson, Musa Nxumalo, Thabiso Sekgala, Guy Wouete

Musik Convention
7 – 9 October at Picnic Records, Berlin

Music is a companion in the trans-African movement display. With contributions by Stefanie Alisch, Rangoato Hlasane, Bongani Madondo, Kagiso Mnisi, Garnette Cadogan, Charles Mudede, Tanka Fonta, DJ Zhao and others.

Film Programme
18 – 24 November at Kino Arsenal and ifa Gallery Berlin

The film programme accompanying THE SPACE BETWEEN US will be presented at Kino Arsenal, from 18 to 20 November, and at the ifa-Gallery Berlin, from 21 to 24 November 2013.

The programme presented at Arsenal focuses on films by Oliver Hardt, Ulrich Köhler, Angelika Levi, Branwen Okpako, Andy Amadi Okoroafor, Philip Scheffner and Frieder Schlaich, addressing the trans-African space in Germany, while the film presentations at the ifa-Gallery Berlin are more open and experimental in character; films by Veronika Gerhard, Brigitta Kuster, Thenjiwe Nkosi, Penny Siopis a.o. will be presented in the evenings. The Talks will be jointly led by Cara Snyman, cultural worker, Johannesburg, and Marie-Hélène Gutberlet, cuartor of the project.

thespacebetweenusberlinstuttgart.wordpress.com

www.ifa.de/en/visual-arts/ifa-galleries/berlin.html

27.09.2013 – 22.12.2013