Ich kenne kein Weekend. Archive and Collection René Block / Gustav Metzger / Thomas Hirschhorn: 6 Feuer

Ich kenne kein Weekend. 
Archive and Collection René Block
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, September 16, 2015–January 24, 2016 
Berlinische Galerie, September 16, 2015–February 15, 2016 

Curator: Marius Babias 
Co-Curator: Annelie Lütgens 

With the exhibition Ich kenne kein Weekend. Archive and Collection René Block, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.), in cooperation with Berlinische Galerie – Landesmuseum für Moderne Kunst, Fotografie und Architektur and Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, is dedicating a show to the manifold and interdisciplinary work of gallery owner and exhibition organizer René Block. Block’s career began in 1964 in West Berlin, where he opened his gallery with the legendary show Neodada, Pop, Décollage, Kapitalistischer Realismus, presenting at the time unknown artists such as Joseph Beuys, Nam June Paik, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter and Wolf Vostell. Being one of the pioneers to promote intermedia art, Fluxus and happenings, René Block played a decisive role in the neo-avant-garde. As director of the Visual Arts department of the DAAD as well as the ifa – Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations, Museum Fridericianum, Kunstraum Tanas and as the initiator and director of numerous biennials worldwide, Block established a unique story of tracking, showing, collecting and exhibiting contemporary art. Neuer Berliner Kunstverein presents works of art and favorite pieces from the curatorial work of René Block since 1964. The focus of the presentation at Berlinische Galerie is on materials, documents, photographs and films from the archive of Block. Additionally on show, there are works of art, which were created on the occasion of numerous exhibition projects.

Neuer Berliner Kunstverein
Geschichte und Geschichten (History and Stories)
Nevin Aladağ, Halil Altındere, Joseph Beuys, Claus Böhmler, George Brecht, KP Brehmer, Bazon Brock, Marcel Broodthaers, Elina Brotherus, Stanley Brouwn, John Cage, Cengiz Çekil, Giuseppe Chiari, Henning Christiansen, Braco Dimitrijević, Maria Eichhorn, Ayşe Erkmen, Robert Filliou, Terry Fox, Ludwig Gosewitz, Richard Hamilton und Dieter Roth, Al Hansen, Mona Hatoum, Dick Higgins, Karl Horst Hödicke, Jytte Høy, Pravdoliub Ivanov, Sanja Iveković, Nina Jansen, Aino Kanisto, Allan Kaprow, Gülsün Karamustafa, On Kawara, Arthur Köpcke, Julius Koller, Jarosław Kozłowski, Alicja Kwade, George Maciunas, Mangelos, Piero Manzoni, Olaf Metzel, Aydan Murtezaoğlu, Bjørn Nørgaard, Şener Özmen und Erkan Özgen, Ebru Özseçen, Füsün Onur, Nam June Paik, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter, Dieter Roth, Reiner Ruthenbeck, Sarkis, Tomas Schmit, Endre Tót, Nasan Tur, Mariana Vassileva, Ben Vautier, Wolf Vostell, Emmett Williams, Maria Wirkkala, Rémy Zaugg

Berlinische Galerie
Archive Block 1964–2014
Materials, documents, photographs and films; works by Hüseyin Bahri Alptekin, Halil Altındere, Joseph Beuys, Stanley Brouwn, Richard Hamilton, Dick Higgins, Karl Horst Hödicke, Allan Kaprow, On Kawara, Ute Klophaus, Olaf Metzel, Jürgen Müller-Schneck, Aydan Murtezaoğlu, Nam June Paik, Angelika Platen, Sigmar Polke, Tomas Schmit, Günther Uecker, Ben Vautier, Wolf Vostell

Publications
The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive publication with the collected texts by René Block and a detailed chronology. It is edited by Marius Babias, Birgit Eusterschulte and Stella Rollig, published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne, 540 pages with numerous illustrations.
On the occasion of the exhibition there is a newspaper compiled by René Block containing numerous guest articles and materials of his curatorial work, 120 pages.

Program 
Thursday, October 1
5pm: Introduction to the exhibition by Birgit Eusterschulte (art historian, Berlin)
6pm: ”I am not a Curator”
Panel discussion with Sabine Breitwieser (Director Museum der Moderne, Salzburg), Christian Jankowski (artist, curator Manifesta 11, Zurich 2016, Berlin), Gabriele Knapstein (Curator Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin), Jean-Hubert Martin (exhibition organizer, Paris), moderated by Kolja Reichert (art critic, Berlin)
In English language, venue: Berlinische Galerie

Thursday, November 5, 6pm
Curators’ talk
With Marius Babias (Director n.b.k.) and René Block (exhibition organizer, Berlin)
In German language, venue: Neuer Berliner Kunstverein

Thursday, December 3, 6pm
Joseph Beuys: Richtkräfte, 1974
With René Block (exhibition organizer, Berlin) and Eugen Blume (Director Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin)
In German language, venue: Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin
Meeting point in the foyer

Thursday, December 10
5pm: Introduction to the exhibition by Eva Scharrer (art critic and curator, Berlin)
6pm: “Ich will hier nicht klären, warum” (I do not want to clarify here why)
Panel discussion with Nevin Aladağ (artist, Berlin), Braco Dimitrijević (artist, Paris), Bjørn Nørgaard (artist, Bissinge / Denmark), moderated by Annelie Lütgens (Head of the graphics collection, Berlinische Galerie)
In German language, venue: Berlinische Galerie

Thursday, January 14
5pm: Introduction to the exhibition by Silke Wittig (Head of communication and public program, n.b.k.)
6pm: Ausfegen / Blockade ’69
Film excerpts by Jürgen Böttcher (filmmaker, Berlin) on the occasion of the action Ausfegen by Joseph Beuys (Berlin, May 1, 1972) and the series of actions and exhibitions Blockade ’69, with an introduction by Wulf Herzogenrath (Director Visual Arts, Academy of Arts, Berlin)
In German language, venue: Berlinische Galerie

n.b.k. Showroom
Gustav Metzger
Withdrawal and protest have been, for decades, dominating the work of Gustav Metzger (b. 1926 in Nuremberg, living in London). His work aims at a profound social transformation. At Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Metzger presents Mass Media—Today and Yesterday (1972/2015). This work, which Metzger has been continuously updating since 1972, is a space-filling installation of pallets with stacks of different newspapers. The visitors are encouraged to cut out pictures and articles from current newspapers, which they associate with the subjects that Metzger has always dedicated himself to: Extinction—in all its forms and manifestations, Endangered life in the oceans of the world, Reports on organic food use and production, Pollution in towns and in the countryside. The clippings are arranged along the wall as an ever-growing and changing collage. 

Thomas Hirschhorn
6 Feuer
Thomas Hirschhorn was born in 1957 in Bern, Switzerland. He studied at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Zurich from 1978 to 1983 and moved to Paris in 1983, where he has been living since. His work has been shown in numerous museums, galleries and exhibitions. With each exhibition as well as with specific works in public space, Thomas Hirschhorn asserts his commitment towards a non-exclusive public. The work 6 Feuer (6 Fires) (2015) is an intervention by the artist on the facade of Neuer Berliner Kunstverein and marks the beginning of a series of outside projects with international artists that address urban space.