Institutions

A B C D E _ F G H I J _ K L M N O _ P Q R S T _ U V W X Y Z

U

University of the Arts, Berlin
Studiengang Sound Studies - Akustische Kommunikation
The Masters Programme in Sound Studies / Acoustic Communication, which is subject to a tuition fee, is offered for the first time from April 2006 onwards. In four semesters with intensive and personal coaching by mentors, it qualifies students to work with sound in artistic, journalistic, and other creative professions. The broad training enables students to describe, analyse, and evaluate existing sound environments in media, architecture, urban development, and advertising. It also enables them to expertly realise acoustic interventions, modifications, and transformations of such a sound environment in an acoustic conception or a sound briefing. Teaching takes place in four subjects: sound anthropology and sound ecology, experimental sound design, auditory media design, and acoustic conception. Over the four semesters, students specialise in one of these four subjects, in which they also take their examination. The course offerings of the programme were developed and tested from 2002 to 2005 as a pilot project of the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research).
project › Radio_Copernicus
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V

Volksbühne on Rosa Luxemburg Square, Berlin
The “People’s Stage”, the Volksbühne, on what is today Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, was opened in 1914, having been financed by donations from Berlin’s working classes. The first artistic director was Max Reinhardt. Erwin Piscator, a director here from 1924 to 1927, founded Political Theatre during his time at the Volksbühne. During the 1970s, the theatre was strongly influenced by Benno Besson. With Frank Carstorf as artistic director, it established itself as “the most exciting stage in Germany” when his controversial productions repeatedly made the headlines; it also became one of the most financially successful theatres. The Volksbühne’s programme is often called elitist and populist; strange, yet still a crowd-puller. It attempts to tear down the boundaries of theatre. Alongside Frank Carstorf’s multimedia book adaptations, it is Christoph Marthaler’s monuments of motionlessness, the theatre-blasting operations of Christoph Schlingensief and director René Pollesch’s theme of turbo-capitalism which shape the Volksbühne’s image. Other defining elements of this theatre include regular theory, music, literature and film events, and the “Topical Weekends”, which take place in the spirit of the Volksbühne’s “expanded concept of theatre”.
project › Skarbek
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W

Warsaw Autumn - International Festival of Contemporary Music
“Warsaw Autumn” is the only Polish festival of international status and renown that is dedicated to contemporary serious music. It is where the most recent works from Poland and abroad are performed in the context of notable compositions from the second half of the twentieth century. Through commissioned productions, premieres, and debuts of composers and musicians it creates artistic and cultural artefacts. The festival presents a variety of phenomena and tendencies: from the sonic radicalism in the tradition of Webern, through currents that invoke cultural traditions and ancient music, to audio art, live electronics, and sound installations. The festival’s quality and its history of almost 50 years show that it plays an essential role in shaping Poland’s cultural landscape. It is heavily frequented by the young Warsaw audience and foreign tourists. For the 49th Warsaw Autumn, which will take place from 22 to 30 September 2006, more than 20 concerts as well as numerous workshops and accompanying events are being planned.
project › Radio_CopernicusEnsemble Modern at the “Warsaw Autumn” Festival
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Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster
[Westphalian Art Association, Münster]
With about 1,000 members the Westfälische Kunstverein is one of the largest, and with its foundation in 1831 one of the oldest art associations. It grew out of a private initiative of citizens who aimed at preserving and collecting art that was then being threatened by secularisation. Already at the turn of the century, but more decidedly after the Second World War, the emphasis has shifted to contemporary art. Here the Kunstverein occupies an essential juncture between the production of art and its discussion. On the one hand the exhibitions of international contemporary art show what artists are grappling with today, on the other they give visitors the opportunity to understand and also to assess the significance of this art in society.
project › Ambassadors – Research ProgrammeSFX: Publiczność - Spontaneous Publics
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Wrocławski Teatr Współczesny, Wrocław
Wrocław’s Teatr Współczesny (Theatre of the Present), which has been directed by Krystyna Meissner since 1999, is a living organism that reacts like a seismograph to Polish and universally human moods. It is sensitive to what hurts or presses, to what is new, different, or fresh. Present – this means a courageous search for the Teatr’s place not only in the theatre landscape of Wrocław and the region, but also in that of the entire country and Europe. Teatr Współczesny experiments with form and content, it takes the risk of working with provocative artists (such as K. Warlikowski, J. Klata, P. Cieplak, R. Klynstra) and difficult texts. Present – this means to be open to confrontation, to taking a look in the mirror not only at festival times, in order to see what one is doing and what one is struggling for with others. The festival “Dialogue-Wrocław” has been taking place here every two years since 2001.
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Wyspa Art Institute, Gdańsk
The Wyspa Institute of Art has resided on the grounds of the former Gdańsk Shipyard since 2004. The quasi-institutional, innovative organisation combines the presentation of contemporary art with deliberations on social culture. Wyspa’s projects deal with problems of history and memory – as, for instance, “Strażnicy Doki” (Dockwatchers) – and the political dimension of art. The conferences “Arte.Akt”, “BHP”, and “Pułapka na mszy” (The Mousetrap) addressed issues surrounding the contextualisation of modern art institutions. The activities of the Wyspa Institute of Art redefine the concept institution in contemporary art by subjecting political and social contexts to critical reflection and by analysing the processes of production and presentation of art. Director of the Institute is the curator and art historian Aneta Szyłak.
Legally and organisationally, the Institute is tied to the Wyspa Progress Foundation, which was established in 1994 and is located in the vicinity of Modelarnia, an artists’ cooperative. The Foundation is a public benefit organisation that previously operated Wyspa Gallery and initiated the establishment of the Łaźnia Centre for Contemporary Art. President of the Foundation is Grzegorz Klaman, artist and professor at the Gdańsk Academy of Fine Arts.
project › Ewa Partum: The Legality of SpaceThe Mousetrap
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