Under the theme »2019 – the Weimar Year«, this year's Weimar Art Festival will offer a topical and decidedly political reception as well as a reflection on Weimar's cultural history. Among the numerous projects, installations and concerts taking place against the backdrop of this year's Bauhaus anniversary are two projects in cooperation with the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, including the project »DIE WOHNUNG EINHUNDERT« by the Cologne-based composer, sound and installation artist Rochus Aust and a Silent Film Retrospective presented by the Lectureship for Film and Media Studies, led by Dr. Simon Frisch.
»DIE WOHNUNG EINHUNDERT« – In search of the »Bauhaus-Menschen«
How are the residents of the historic Bauhaus buildings actually doing? Visitors to the Weimar Art Festival can find an answer to this question at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar campus. »DIE WOHNUNG EINHUNDERT« brings together people who live and work in Bauhaus buildings worldwide as part of an interactive and performative media installation at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar campus. The Main Building, the Van de Velde Building and the campus of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar will thus become the stage for Bauhaus residents from all over the world.
»RESIDENCE ONE HUNDRED« is a world theatre of Bauhaus synchronicity in Weimar, Detroit, New York, Brno, Kaunas, Casablanca, Haifa, Cologne, Berlin and Karlsruhe. The 25-hour installation is framed by two one-hour performances on the campus of the Bauhaus-Universität, in which the »Deutsches Stromorchestre« under the direction of Rochus Aust represents the Bauhaus in an audio-visual and performative format. Aust transforms otherwise monotonous or even bothersome sounds from devices such as toasters, printers and kettles into musical instruments.
»Shock of Freedom. Films of Weimar Cinema in the Cinemas of Weimar 1919«
With the founding of the Weimar Republic, the golden age of German cinema also began for the cinematic scene of Weimar. After imperial rule and the horrors of World War I, the film displays the sudden »Shock of Freedom« (Siegfried Kracauer) in its escapist comedies, glamorous spectacles and dark screen fantasies. On the basis of the reconstructed screening schedules of the local cinemas Scherffs Lichtspielhaus and Reform Licht-Spiele, the Lichthaus Cinema, the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, the Weimar Art Festival and the Weimar City Archives present a silent film retrospective with rare works that drew huge crowds exactly one hundred years ago.
The films will be accompanied live by internationally renowned musicians such as Richard Siedhoff, one of the most sought-after young talents in his field. Maud Nelissen (Netherlands), Stephen Horne (UK), Mykyta Sierov (Ukraine), Matthias Hirth and Wolf-Günter Leidel (both from Germany) will also accompany the silent films. Discussions with experts from the worlds of film, culture and music, as well as the showing of historical newsreels, will examine these works of cinematic cultural heritage from the unique perspective of the city of Weimar.
»DIE WOHNUNG EINHUNDERT«
Composition, Video und Production: Rochus Aust
Cooperation: Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Screenings: Friday 23 August 9 pm and Saturday 24 August 9:30 pm
Installation: 23 August 9:30 pm until 24 August 10:30 pm
Admission is free.
»Shock of freedom. Films of Weimar Cinema in the Cinemas of Weimar 1919«
Idea and Conception: Dr. Simon Frisch, Gerrit Heber, Katrin Richter, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar / Sven Opel und Dirk Heinje, Lichthaus GmbH / Dr. Jens Riederer, Weimar City Archives / Richard Siedhoff
Organiser: Lichthaus Cinema, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Weimar City Archives and Weimar Art Festival
Tickets: www.lichthaus.info/karten
Programme: www.lichthaus.info/sonderveranstaltung
Premiere: Monday 26 August, 7 pm, Lichthaus Cinema with Dirk Heinje (Lichthaus GmbH), Rolf C. Hemke (Weimar Art Festival), Katrin Richter (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar), Richard Siedhoff (in-house pianist at Lichthaus Cinema and silent film musician)
Contact person for the Silent Film Retrospective: Dr. Simon Frisch (Faculty of Media, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, phone: +49 (0) 3643 / 58 37 37, email: simon.frisch(at)uni-weimar.de) and Katrin Richter (University Library of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, phone: +49 (0) 3643 / 58 28 03, email: katrin.richter(at)uni-weimar.de).
More information about the projects:
www.kunstfest-weimar.de.
Contact person for the Weimar Art Festival:
For more information please contact +49 (0) 3643 755 292 or presse(at)kunstfest-weimar.de.