One Long Night
Mark your calendar: October 20. For the eighth year in a row, the Long Night of Munich Museums opens the doors of 100 city galleries and collections from 7 pm to 2 am. As in the past, shuttle buses on four routes will link participating locations. The € 15 ticket covers all entrance fees and shuttles, as well as access to public transportation from midnight to 8 am the next morning. Several museums will offer children’s programs from 2 pm to 6 pm on Saturday. A booklet with the complete program can be found at participating museums and at all VVK outlets.
Harrowing Art at Lenbachhaus
From September 29 to Janu-ary 6, 2008, “Willie Doherty Stories,” a solo exhibition fea-turing pieces from the Irish artist’s work, will be on show at the Lenbachhaus. The slide and video installations span Doherty’s artistic career from the early 1990s to today. An accompanying 172-page catalogue (English/German) provides descriptions of the works exhibited as well as of the political and social context in which they were created. Doherty, who witnessed the 1972 “Bloody Sunday” killings in Northern Ireland, frequently explores perceptions and misconceptions, be it of people, conflicts or countries. For example, The Only Good One is a Dead One is a 30-minute two-screen video installation featuring a view from a car driving through the night as well as an interior of a car illuminated by streetlights. A male voice explains his fear of being assassinated as well as the desire for revenge as he plots an ambush. Doherty was nominated in 1994 and 2003 for the prestigious Turner Prize of the Tate Britain and represented both Ireland (1993) and Northern Ireland (2007) at the Venice Biennale. He is one of the most important contemporary video installation artists working today. www.lenbachhaus.de
Unique Work for the Haus der Kunst
To celebrate his first solo exhibition in Germany since the late 1990s, London-based Indian artist Anish Kapoor will install Svayambh (meaning “self-generated”) at the Haus der Kunst in reaction to the building’s monumental size and dark history. The work is a red block that will move along tracks through the entire east gallery, passing through two doors and leaving behind smears of its contents—a mix of Vaseline, paint and wax. As the exhibit information points out, images such as these carry great connotations in a building with such a difficult history as the Haus der Kunst’s. The exhibit will also includes pieces from Kapoor’s early work, floor-based installations and other creations from 2007. The installation is in place from October 18 to January 20.
Jewish Folk Art
Until November 18, the Jewish Museum will hold “From Bavaria to Israel: Tracing Jewish Folk Art.” An exhibition based on the work of art historian Theodor Harburger, who traveled Bavaria from 1926 to 1932 with Judaica collector Heinrich Feuchtwanger. While Harburger documented Jewish folk art with 800 photographs, Feuchtwanger concentrated on collecting it. Together, they attempted unsuccessfully to open a Jewish Museum. As soon as the National Socialists came to power, both men emigrated to Israel, where Feuchtwangers collection is housed in the Israeli Museum, Jerusalem. For the exhibition, selected objects—including torahs, household items, archive photographs and documents—returned to Germany for the first time. www.juedisches-museum-muenchen.de
Capri Comes to Pasing
From September 13 to October 18, the Pasinger Fabrik will hold “Ein Haus: Casa Malaparte,” an exhibition of work by noted Munich artist Petra Liebl-Osborne, who for many years has been fascinated with the striking house, located on the isle of Capri. Once owned by Italian author Curzio Malaparte, the house has inspired art, novels, and films, including Jean-Luc Godard’s 1963 film Contempt. Liebl-Osborne’s work combines photography, painted screens and inspiration from the house’s design. She is well known for her photographs themed around water at the Miami Airport and installations in Berlin. The exhibition runs Tuesday to Sunday from 4 to 8 pm and will include special events, such as two film screenings, a reading and lectures, though they will be held in German and Italian. For details, see www.pasinger-fabrik.com.
American Artists in Munich in the 19th Century
The International Conference on American Artists, “Artistic Migration and the Cultural Exchange Process,” runs from October 9 to 11 at the Amerika Haus. It takes a look not only at which writers, painters and other artists came to Munich and its influence on their careers, but also what impact this had on the city’s artistic life from mid-19th-century to World War I. Admission to the conference is free of charge, but preregistration is required. Call 298 27 556 or consult the detailed program and registration information at www.zikg.eu/main/2007/americanartists
Banking on Scythian Gold
“Under the Sign of the Golden Griffon: The Royal Tombs of the Scythians” brings together an impressive collection of spectacular new finds from a nomadic people who flourished from the eighth to the third centuries BC between the steppes of Europe and Asia. The exhibition runs from October 26 to January 20 at the Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung. Household items, horse equipment, textiles and finely crafted gold and silver jewelry will be on display. Recent excavation techniques combined with ideal preservation conditions have provided excellent mummified remains and artifacts that allow archeologists to paint an accurate portrait of the lifestyle and environment of a people who left behind no written records. For details on guided tours, including special children’s tours, go to www.hypo-kunsthalle.de.
Unveiling the Unique Wittelsbach Collections
Artwork and cultural artifacts collected by Wittelsbach rulers from early explorers to South America, the South Pacific, India, China and Siberia are on display at the Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde until February 24, 2008. “Exotic Worlds: From the Ethnological Collections of the Wittelsbach’s from 1806 to 1848” features pieces collected between the reign of Maximilian I. Joseph and the abdication of King Ludwig I. Assembled by Bavaria’s rulers for its people, the collections are priceless and make up the core of the museum’s holdings. Examples include an Indian Jaina Altar from the 16th century, a 19th-century statue from Polynesia and a Buddha stone head dating from AD 800. The museum is the second largest of its kind in Germany.
