Jan Martinec & Clemens Wilhelm’s film “The Brexit Tree” celebrates its German Premiere at:
“Neue Rituale der Heilung / New Rituals of Healing”
Summer Videoart Screening 2021
12 September 2021, 7.30 – 11.00 pm
at St. Matthäus-Church & Das Dritte Land, Matthäikirchplatz, 10785 Berlin-Kulturforum
Artists: Nam June Paik, Alisi Telengut, Clemens Wilhelm & Jan Martinec, Horny Honey Dew, Isaac Chong Wai, Marco Montiel-Soto, Markus Hanakam & Roswitha Schuller, Sara Sejin Chang
Curator: Keumhwa Kim
The summer videoart screening “New Rituals of Healing” asks how rituals are contextualized as symbolic acts as well as sources of inspiration in different performative formats and how they are used in different cultures as catalysts for inner healing.
The evening program New Rituals of Healing begins with the eight-minute documentary of Nam June Paik’s performance and thus ties in with the Beuys exhibition “Der Erfinder der Elektrizität: Joseph Beuys und der Christenimpuls”, taking place in the neighboring St. Matthew’s Church, in particular the film “Eurasienstab” being shown there, in which Joseph Beuys ritually seeks to heal the polarities of the world – the gap between East and West – in a performative way. Beuys believed that art could contribute to the reconciliation of inner and outer divisions in the soul and society.
Taking up the central pulse of the action, the participation of Berlin and international artists such as Isaac Chong Wai, Alisi Telengut, Sara Sejin Chang, Horny Honey Dew Kim, Markus Hanakam & Roswitha Schuller, Clemens Wilhelm & Jan Martinec and Marco Montiel-Soto not only creates a posthumous international dialogue between Beuys and his student Nam June Paik, but also a dialogue between the two artists and the younger generation of artists, who find a critical projection surface for themes such as the environment, postcolonialism, society and identity in rituals and shamanism. The program includes artists who use ritual acts as signs and information carriers to address conscious, unconscious and suppressed fears, repressions, and prejudices of society. Mirroring fears and insecurities that have increased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as climate change, the artists ask to what extent rituals serve to act as catalysts.
This program was made possible with a kind support by Foundation St. Matthäus and Hans and Charlotte Krull Foundation
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Program Schedule
In the St. Matthäus-Church at 6.00 pm:
hORA church service at the closing of the exhibition.
Preaching: Prof. Dr. Alf Christophersen, Professor of Systematic Theology, Münster
Liturgy: Pastor Hannes Langbein, St. Matthäus Foundation
at 7.30 pm:
Nam June Paik, A Pas de Loup – Documentary of Performance, 1990, 8’21”, © Korean Broadcasting System
at 7.45 pm:
Isaac Chong Wai, Pieta, Performance
Performers: Leticia Taguchi and Nobutaka Shomura
At the artists’ garden, Das dritte Land
at 8.15 – 9.20 pm:
Alisi Telengut
The Fourfold, 2020, 7 min
Markus Hanakam & Roswitha Schuller
The Heralds, 2017, 7 min
Sara Sejin Chang
Four Months, Four Million Light Years, 2020, 35 min
Horney Honey Dew Kim
내가 조금 더 설렐 수 있게 ♡ Purple Kiss, 2018, 4 min
Marco Montiel-Soto
Maracas treaty, 2019, 7 min
at 9.30 – 11.00 pm:
Clemens Wilhelm & Jan Martinec
THE BREXIT TREE
Documentary
80 min | 2021
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more info:
Jan Martinec & Clemens Wilhelm
THE BREXIT TREE
Documentary | 80 min | 2021
German Premiere 12th September 2021
On Brexit Day, a Weeping Willow is planted in the rural town of Huntly, Scotland. This Brexit Tree is a communal art project which causes quite a controversy in the media as well as in the town. 75 national newspapers pick up the story which triggers a long social media debate.
Initiated by Deveron Projects and visiting artist Clemens Wilhelm (Berlin) the project dives into the depths of the Brexit conflict. Just like Brexit itself, the planting is postponed three times, and the year-long process mirrors the divisions, troubles and hopes in the Pre-Brexit era.
This paradoxical Weeping Willow symbolizes loss and sorrow, but also healing and rebirth. Since the Middle Ages, Weeping Willows are associated with loss and sorrow in Europe, but in China, where these trees originated, they are seen as trees of youth, strength and regeneration. Willows in general are seen as healing trees in many cultures, as their bark contains the basis for Aspirin. Will the Remainers and Brexiteers welcome this Brexit Tree on the banks of the River Deveron?
This film follows the fault lines that run through Huntly which appears as a miniature UK. Huntly residents voice their views on Brexit and Scottish independence. What is the role of social media in Brexit? What does the future hold for Huntly? Will the Brexit Tree survive?
The Project THE BREXIT TREE was produced by Deveron Projects (Huntly, UK) and was supported by Aberdeenshire Council, Creative Scotland, Goethe Institut & Stiftung Kunstfonds
More info on Jan Martinec
More info on THE BREXIT TREE (Film)
More info on THE BREXIT TREE (Monument)