Exhibition and book project, 2024

My longstanding study of the role of the city in Alfred Döblin's literature (Döblin and the metropolis) also led me to study his biography. In a letter from Los Angeles, where he had fled from National Socialism in 1940, he wrote shortly after his arrival:
"They have built by the sea, and here and there, some town centers, with low houses and cottages, and „»spaces in between«. As far as I can see, the town consists mainly of spaces. In some gaps there are oil fields, on others there are the Müggelberge with many villas, sometimes there are just simple areas of garbage."
This sentence connects worlds in a wonderfully casual way and reveals Döblin's skeptical view of Los Angeles. It made me want to take a closer look at his time in Los Angeles. Döblin had always been involved in socio-political debates, only in American exile did he almost fall silent. I only found one private photo from the USA in his estate. So, in preparation for a trip to Los Angeles, I read texts by Brecht, Feuchtwanger, the Mann brothers, Alma Maler Werfel, Hans Eisler, etc., to find out more about Döblin's life in Hollywood. By reading, I immersed myself in the network of exiles who supported each other, but also argued fiercely with each other.
The music critic Alex Ross wrote an article worth reading about German writers in exile in Los Angeles: The Haunted California Idyll of German Writers in Exile
In April 2024, as a Villa Aurora scholarship holder, I moved into Marta Feuchtwanger's bedroom, set up a darkroom in the former double garage to develop my films and set off on a voyage of discovery: Below the villa, I discovered Sunset Point, a popular surfing beach where Marta went swimming until she was very old. In the harbor district of San Pedro, I sought out film locations that had made a lasting impression on me. I explored the houses and neighborhoods of former emigrants, was invited to Schönberg's for coffee, climbed the Hollywood Hills on foot and visited the oil fields of Los Angeles, which Döblin and Brecht mentioned so often. At Döblin's former address in Hollywood, 80 years later, a Jewish stand-up comedian lived with her boyfriend, a writer. A coincidence that fits in well with Hollywood.

Exhibitions

Inside & Outside
Art, music and literature in exile
AMALIENPARK Gallery | RAUM FÜR KUNST
Breite Straße 23, 13187 Berlin
Opening 28.2.2025 at 19.30h
until 6.4.2025

Group exhibition with Martin Enderlein, 
Petra Flierl, 
Annette Gundermann,
Kitty Kahane,
 Lorenz Kienzle, 
Núria Quevedo,
Denise Richardt
, Henry Stöcker
, Simone Tippach-Schneider

Flight, expulsion and exile are part of the painful experience of generations of human history. It became a central experience worldwide, especially in the 20th century, and currently refugee flows are growing again, not only in Europe. While democratic artists were systematically expelled from the Third Reich, today Germany is a place of longing for many marginalized people. These experiences form the basis for what is now the fifth exhibition project in the Art & Sound series under the motto Drinnen & Draußen - Kunst, Musik und Literatur im Exil. The exhibition will show paintings, graphics, drawings, photographs and sculptures by nine artists from Berlin and Brandenburg who were inspired by the motto, i.e. by the literature, art and music of exiles, including Kurt Weill and Ursula Mamlok, to create these works of art or who have expressed their own experiences of exile in their artworks.
The six-week exhibition also includes an extensive accompanying program , including at Schönhausen Palace and the former Jewish orphanage, readings, lectures, film screenings and discussions with high-profile guests.
Guests include the Arminio String Quartet, Turkish author and activist Nazli Karabiyikoglu and Andrej Hermlin and his Swing Dance Orchestra.