The Gesamtkunstwerk 1914/1918 Damals nicht jetzt nicht niemals comes to the Kunsthalle Rostock

ART

Wood as a relic and contemporary witness of the war

The Gesamtkunstwerk "1914/1918 - Damals nicht, jetzt nicht, niemals" is being shown again at the Kunsthalle Rostock

19 March 2024

Günther Uecker (Germany) Untitled, 2018 Nails on wood 35 × 30 × 30 cm © Günther Uecker/ VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024 Photo: Jack Kulcke, Düsseldorf

19 March 2024: The Gesamtkunstwerk initiated by Osnabrück artist Volker-Johannes Trieb "1914/1918 - "1914/1918 - Damals nicht, jetzt nicht, niemals" will be shown again at the Kunsthalle Rostock. The exhibition will be opened on Thursday 21 March in the presence of some of the participating artists. Hans-Gert Pöttering - former President of the European Parliament and patron of the exhibition, and the artist and initiator Volker-Johannes Trieb will be among those speaking.

The peace project dates back to 2018 and was opened in the Bundestag in Berlin on 7 November 2018 by the late Dr Wolfgang Schäuble, then President of the Bundestag. The exhibition then moved on to New York in summer 2019, where it was on display at the United Nations Headquarters.

The exhibition features works by a total of 31 internationally renowned artists, including Günther Uecker, Jean Boghossian, Monica Bonvicini, Tony Cragg, Fiona Hall and Anish Kapoor.

In 2018, 100 years after the Armistice of Compiègne, the peace region "Osnabrücker Land" initiated an art project at the suggestion of the artist Volker-Johannes Trieb to commemorate the end of the First World War. Artists from countries that were involved in the First World War took part. The starting point for the individually designed artworks was the material to be worked with: a block of oak wood from a former section of the front in Alsace. Wood as a relic as well as a contemporary witness of the war.

The originally uniform blocks were then turned into 31 different works of art. The New Zealand artist David McCracken, for example, turned his block into wood wool and placed a bomb-shaped sculpture on top. Jana Želibská's (Czech Republic) group of sculptures under Plexiglas combines withered wood, raven figures and a metal skull to create an allegory of death. IRWIN from Slovenia used the cuboid as a kind of advertising pillar with the inscription "Time for a new state. Some say you can find happiness there".

The red colour that pours over the wooden block by Austrian artist Hermann Nitsch is a reminder of the brutality of war.

Hermann Nitsch (Österreich) Untitled, 2018 Acryl auf Holz 30 × 30 × 30 cm © Hermann Nitsch / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2024 Foto: Jack Kulcke, Düsseldorf

For the initiator, Volker-Johannes Trieb, the link to the historical sites is particularly important. He wants to raise awareness, both of the incisive historical event and of its consequences, which continue to the present day. It is therefore not only a necessity, but much more a duty to put a finger in the historical wound.

The artist told Alethea Magazine: "When we started planning this exhibition in 2014, the world was a different place than it is today. "1914/1918 - Not then, not now, not ever!" was created in response to the horrors of the First World War. Today, after many new horrors between Lviv and Kharkiv, between Kiev and Odessa, and the fear of many that a third world war is looming, the exhibition is expanding its focus. Our exhibition has become different because of the terrible things that are happening in Ukraine every day. Not because it shows different exhibits, but because the visitor now sees its exhibits with different eyes."

More informations under:

www.kunsthallerostock.de