Michaela Melián
300 Audio Tracks on Sites of NS Terror in Munich 1933–1945
A project by the Municipal Department of Arts and Culture of the City of Munich / ‘Freie Kunst im öffentlichen Raum’ in cooperation with the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation / Radio Play and Media Art Dept.
Launch: 23 September, 2010
With Memory Loops, Munich is creating a virtual memorial for the victims of National Socialism. Michaela Melián’s audio work of art comprises 300 German and 175 English audio tracks which, from 23 September, 2010 onwards, can be called up under www.memoryloops.net and downloaded free of charge.
In 2008 Michaela Melián was the winner of the competition ‘Victims of National Socialism – New Forms of Remembering and Remembrance’, initiated by the City of Munich, with her concept Memory Loops. The project is being carried out in cooperation with the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation / Radio Play and Media Art Dept.
Memory Loops is an audio artwork based on transcriptions of historical and recent material from victims of National Socialism and contemporary witnesses, from which Michaela Melián has created collages of voices and music, thematically linked to the topography of National Socialism in Munich. Five of these audio tracks are one-hour Memory Loops related to sites within the city of Munich and with a focus on different subjects.
The website memoryloops.net forms the central element of the artwork. From 23 September, 2010 onwards all audio files will be available on this site on a city map. In a few clicks, a personal list of tracks can be compiled. Whether downloaded onto a mobile phone or an MP3 player, everybody interested can follow his or her own Memory Loop through the city.
In addition, attention will be drawn to selected audio tracks within the city of Munich—these can also be dialed up directly at the respective site. At several museums in Munich and at the projected infopoint in the NS Documentation Centre, MP3 players with the Memory Loops can be hired free of charge. Memory Loops can be heard as a radio series on Bayern 2 in September and October 2010.
Michaela Melián, an artist and musician, lives in Munich and Hamburg. She is a professor for time-based media at the Hochschule für bildende Künste (HfbK), Hamburg. She is a member of the band F.S.K. (Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle). On 30 June, 2010, she was awarded the Art Prize of the City of Munich.
Presentation of Memory Loops and related events:
Rathausgalerie Kunsthalle (City Hall Art Gallery), Marienplatz 8, Munich
Opening: Thursday, 23 September, 2010, 6 p.m.
Rathausgalerie Kunsthalle (City Hall Art Gallery), Marienplatz 8, Munich
Artist talk: Sunday, 26 September, 2010, 11 a.m.
Michaela Melián in conversation with Chris Dercon, Director, Haus der Kunst, Munich
Podium discussion: Thursday, 30 September, 2010, 7 p.m.
‘Gedenk.Kunst’ (Memory.Art) – contemporary artistic possibilities for memorials in public spaces
Guests: Prof. Dr. Aleida Assmann, Prof. Nikolaus Hirsch, Prof. Dr. Harald Welzer
Contact
www.memoryloops.net
Press office at the Dept. of Arts and Culture, City of Munich:
Jennifer Kozarevic, presse.kulturreferat [at] muenchen.de, tel: +49 89-233-26005
Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation / Radio Play and Media Art Dept.:
hoerspiel [at] brnet.de; tel: +49 89-5900-2252
*Image above:
Design: Surface. de with Michala Melián.
