This workshop in French and German included lectures by Angelika Weißbach, Michael Freudenberg and Georg Girardet which were chaired by Jean Mortier, as well as a lecture workshop.

See the article by Angelika Weißbach that resulted from her lecture: https://dfk-paris.org/en/node/1361#/resolve/articles/23147 (first edition at https://perspectivia.net/receive/pnet_mods_00000087 (pdf)).

Lectures

In 1979, a group of young artists in Dresden who refused to exhibit conventional art as defined by the authorities in the GDR developed a project of working on a topical issue relevant to their generation. They agreed on a proposal by Michael Freudenberg to choose the theme of doors, which seemed to have particularly rich associations in a country enclosed by a wall. In the autumn of 1979, the Leonhardi Museum in Dresden hosted the “Türenausstellung” (“Exhibition of Doors”), the fruit of their collaborative work. Michael Freudenberg, Monika Hanske, Volker Henze, Ralf Kerbach, Helge Leiberg, Reinhard Sandner, Cornelia Schleime and Karla Woisnitza each created an installation, while Thomas Wetzel organised four outdoor actions relating to the theme. The exhibition attracted attention from the general public, with A. R. Penck claiming that it represented “the beginning of victory over false consciousness (falsches Bewußtsein)!”.

Angelika Weißbach will present the “Exhibition of Doors”, discussing issues raised by the utilisation of an object from the immediate environment within the specific context of artistic practices in the GDR in the late 1970s. This will be followed by a discussion chaired by Professor Jean Mortier, with Angelika Weißbach and two people who were involved in the exhibition: Michael Freudenberg, initiator of the project, and Georg Girardet, who was Cultural Adviser for the FRG in East Berlin at the time and visited the exhibition. Reaching beyond memories of the exhibition, we will explore what this event represented at the time. What was the status of objects in artistic practices in the GDR in the late 1970s? What were the connections between these practices and the avant-garde movements? What do they reveal about people's relationship with their surrounding environment?

See the article by Angelika Weißbach that resulted from her lecture: https://dfk-paris.org/en/node/1361#/resolve/articles/23147 (first edition at https://perspectivia.net/receive/pnet_mods_00000087 (pdf)).

Lecture Workshop

Conceived by Clara Pacquet

• Michael Fried, “Art and Objecthood”, in Artforum, vol. 5, n° 10, June 1967; reprinted in Gregory Battcock (éd.), Minimal Art. A Critical Anthology, London, University of California Press, 1968, p. 116-147; french translation in Michael Fried, Contre la théâtralité. Du minimalisme à la photographie contemporaine, Paris, Gallimard, 2007
• Ulrich Kuhirt, “Befragung der Realität? Zur 5. Documenta-Ausstellung 1972 in Kassel (BRD)”, in Bildende Kunst, n° 11, 1972, p. 539-542
• Roland März, text in Collagen, Montagen, Frottagen. Von Künstlern der DDR, exhib. cat. Galerie am Sachsenplatz, 61. Verkaufsausstellung, Leipzig, 1978
• Roland März, text in Von der Collage zur Assemblage. Aspekte der Materialkunst in der DDR, exhib. cat. Studio n° 18, Nationalgalerie, Altes Museum, Berlin, 1978
• Harald Szeemann, “Duchamp, Marcel (1887-1968)”, in id. (ed.), Beuysnobiscum: eine kleine Enzyklopädie, Dresden/Amsterdam, Verlag der Kunst, 1997, p. 119-127