PAST PROJECTS 2021
WIR BAUEN EINE NEUE STADT
Inaugural event series
June - September 2021
The inaugural exhibition project examined the way a community is built, supported and understood. Although the 80s band Palais Schaumburg’s song with the same title considers the physical aspect of constructing, WIRWIR used their title to highlight metaphorical and lyrical ideas of building a city in
3 chapters: Build, Identify & Activate
This project was funded by a grant from NeuStart.
WIR BAUEN EINE NEUE STADT
Inaugural exhibition
June - September 2021
The inaugural exhibition included works by Onur Ceritoğlu (flag pictured here on the right), Shannon Bool (tapestry in the background) and Van Bo Le Mentzel & Bounpheng Sysomnhot (works not pictured here).
The exhibition concentrated on the idea of BUILDing a new community/city through examples of both utopian plans (Onur's work) and failed plans (Shannon's work).
7m³
Sound performance with
Onur Ceritoğlu
June 2021
Onur Ceritoğlu sound performance took place in a 7m³ empty container which was installed for the site specific piece outside of WIRWIR. The container was positioned in front of the gallery for the duration of the first segment of the programming titled BUILD.
Onur performed the sound piece twice on two different occasions during the month of June.
The Universe of the Wok
Building Performance for
48Stunden Neukölln
June 2021
In the initial phase of the first chapter of the event series WIR BAUEN EINE NEUE STADT, the work by Van Bo Le Mentzel & Bounpheng Sysomnhot was constructed into a functioning sculptural piece titled WokLife Kitchen. During 48Stunden Neukölln, Bounpheng Sysomnhot spent the day assembling the wok and on the second day of the festival, James Chan and Miriam Neubauer activated the wok by cooking on it - making traditional Chinese tapas style snacks.
Jendela Sonorama
Communal listening and
lecture-performance with Soydivision
June 2021
Jendela Sonorama is a communal listening and lecture-performance series developed in 2020 by Ariel Orah and Pedro Oliveira in collaboration with LK_W and Soydivision. In each session they host and present listening as a form of collective sharing and learning. Starting from but not constrained to their own personal record collections and research interests, they unpack affective sonic histories that deal, subtly or not, with the (often violent) devices, legacies, and complexities of colonialism.
I think I’m done with the kitchen table, baby.
Artist walk by Andrew J. Burford
June & July 2021
Andrew J. Burford's artist walk I think I'm done with the kitchen table, baby. takes the route of Sonnenallee where he interweaves his own personal queer history with that of the queer history of Berlin and artists who have had an impact on his own work.
Andrew's walk was 2.5 hours long and was performed twice and it was part of the IDENTIFY chapter of WIR BAUEN EINE NEUE STADT.
empathysupper
Performative eating and listening experience with Soydivision
July 2021
The performance consists of several acts/episodes. In each stage/episode the audience will not only enjoy different food, they will also feel an unconventional, unforeseeable, unrepeatable sensation. Every food has its own story, and every story has its own meaning. Soydivision aims to bring this meaning to the audience by exploring a feeling that binds us all as humans: empathy.
empathysupper was part of the IDENTIFY chapter of WIR BAUEN EINE NEUE STADT.
Wieder zu Hause flicken
Repair cafe with Anne Dyhr and Christian Schmidt-Møller
July 2021
Anne and Christian's attitude was that anything that could fit through the door of WIRWIR could be fixed. Each person maintained their own agency by given the knowledge of how to fix something themselves by Anne and Christian.
Signs were posted in 4 languages (German, Turkish, Arabic and English) on all of the apartment building doors within a 4 block radius of WIRWIR announcing the free services offered. As a result over 25 people came a day with broken household items.
Wieder zu Hause flicken was open for 7 days in a row, 6 hours a day.
Wieder zu Hause flicken was part of the IDENTIFY chapter of WIR BAUEN EINE NEUE STADT.
TAKE THE CAKE: SIMIT
A collaborative lecture performance / baking show with April Gertler and Idil Morsallioglu
August 2021
TAKE THE CAKE: SIMIT explores the historical background of the traditional Turkish bread SIMIT which is easily found in the surrounding neighborhoods of Neukölln and Kreuzberg.
The various histories about the bread are deconstructed while April and Idil prepare and bake the bread.
The performance culminates with fresh SIMIT for everyone in the audience.
TAKE THE CAKE was part of the IDENTIFY chapter of WIR BAUEN EINE NEUE STADT.
Sonic Neukölln
An artist walk with Adrian Schiesser
August & September 2021
Adrian Schiesser's walk Sonic Neukölln explored the sonic diversity of Sonnenallee through previously held interviews of at least 15 shop owners on Sonnenallee trying to understand how each shop owner's favorite song could potential create a sonic
cornucopia.
The walk was almost 3 hours long and was performed twice.
Sonic Neukölln was part of the ACTIVATE chapter of WIR BAUEN EINE NEUE STADT.
Bread and Butter Bartering
Story and food exchange with
Maureen de Jong and Cesca Bondy
August 2021
Bread and Butter Bartering was part of the bigger project 'You and I eat the same or where's the edge of the pot?'. Maureen de Jong did at least 8 events at WIRWIR during her 3 weeks in the space. Having traveled from Amsterdam, she stayed in WIRWIR and collaborated with various people she met while she was in the neighborhood.
One of the events she did in collaboration with Cesca Bondy was Butter Barter which exchanged sandwiches made on fresh bread with stories or anything else people were willing to barter - (pictured above).
You and I Eat the Same or Where’s the Edge of the Pot? was part of the ACTIVATE chapter of WIR BAUEN EINE NEUE STADT.
Sunday lunch
Performative Food Experience with Maureen de Jong and
Pati Sayuri
August 2021
Sunday lunch was part of the bigger project 'You and I eat the same or where's the edge of the pot?'. Maureen de Jong and Pati Sayuri created a Sunday lunch together making Brazilian food based on Pati's grandmother's recipes (they even Zoomed with her grandmother to make sure they got the recipe right).
You and I Eat the Same or Where’s the Edge of the Pot? was part of the ACTIVATE chapter of WIR BAUEN EINE NEUE STADT.
Failure & Pointlessness Bar
Performative Food Experience with Maureen de Jong and
Min Lai
August 2021
The Failure and Pointlessness Bar was part of the bigger project 'You and I eat the same or where's the edge of the pot?'. Maureen de Jong and Min Lai created tailor made cocktails from people's liquor and alcohol they brought to the cocktail bar based on their mood and the information they would share about themselves.
You and I Eat the Same or Where’s the Edge of the Pot? was part of the ACTIVATE chapter of WIR BAUEN EINE NEUE STADT.
Making Colours with Kitchen Food Waste
Workshop with Lucila Kenny
September 2021
Lucila Kenny did an afternoon workshop on creating inks and dyes with kitchen waste.
Making colours from Kitchen Food Waste was part of the ACTIVATE chapter of WIR BAUEN EINE NEUE STADT.
Mapping Neukölln
Two day Workshop with
Lucila Kenny
September 2021
Lucila Kenny did a two day workshop on creating inks from colors extracted from plants that were harvested around WIRWIR.
The first day of the workshop the group went out collecting plants.
The second day, Lucila showed the group how to extract colors from the plants, berries, flowers and roots that had been gathered.
Mapping Neukölln was part of the ACTIVATE chapter of WIR BAUEN EINE NEUE STADT.
Tani Workshop
Workshop with Soydivision and
Min Lai
September 2021
The Tani workshop reflects the trajectory of the rice plant as an archive of relations between plant and human communities, but also articulations of the fantastical interactions between them.
The workshops invite neighbours: human and non-human collaborators in an exchange of stories, through the communal rice wine making activity.
The Tani Workshop was the last event that was part of the ACTIVATE chapter of WIR BAUEN EINE NEUE STADT.
The Onion Project
Pop-Up Supper Club
October 2021
The Onion Project, spearheaded by Carolina Paoletti, shares family recipes from different cultures, aiming to uncover the varied layers, origins and new directions of food, as well as passing on those traditions to other people.
During the supper club, the recipe of the main dish is shared with the guests step-by-step, so they can learn to make the dish themselves.
Bitte Mit Sahne!
Cake Buffet with Kathleen Knitter
October 2021
The Sunday event takes the form of a cake buffet - reminiscent of the "Kaffeebord" - a tradition in the Jutland region of Denmark, which is a spread of at least 5 types of cakes, pastries, and cookies.
Breadcrumb Book launch
Performance with Felix Leon Westner
November 2021
Book launch for Breadcrumb, a book with over 40+ artistic sandwich recipes. The event was punctuated by a live performance by Felix Leon Westner. Felix used the book as a reference point for his performance.