9 April 18, 2 pm

Join us for an afternoon discussion of urban redevelopment by means of art, presented by the REALTY program at KW Institute for Contemporary Art. Our discussion unfolds in the light of KW’s upcoming plans for Prinzenstraße 32, in Berlin-Kreuzberg. The former Robben & Wientjes compound is being repurposed for use as a temporary cultural hub. It is where KW is shortly to host exihibition throughout the summer month.

Contemporary art eagerly allows itself to be instrumentalized in broader cycles of development and gentrification; particularly when it comes to the upgrading of precarious neighborhoods. And yet, one of the working hypotheses of the REALTY program is the assumption that – provided it does more than whitewash displacement – art can be both effective and emancipatory, even within the context of urban struggles of the kind. 

Which is why the following questions will be prioritized here. On the one hand: What kind of leeway do short-term uses actually offer the art field? Can this tactic be defined or regulated in a way that lends it the long-term option of benefitting the immediate neighborhood? On the other hand: Which institutional aims really are achieved via strategies of temporary usage – who genuinely benefits from deregulated short-term planning patterns? With the help of such critical forensics of our own traditional methods, perhaps we can gradually move toward a renewed measure of “Corporate Responsibility” as a professional field.

The event Open Heart Surgery is planned as part of Aktionstage ZUSAMMENSETZEN, a Berlin-wide series of events running up to the Mietenwahnsinn stoppen demonstration on April 14.

http://www.kw-berlin.de/en/realty-open-heart-surgery/

SEE ALSO DAI'S COOP study group REALTY