Who owns history?
A discussion on Yael Bartana’s
“Two Minutes of Standstill”

6 January 2014

Monday, January 13th, 2014, 19.30h

Akademie der Künste der Welt, Cologne

With Yael Bartana, Christina v. Braun, Oliver Marchart, Noemi Schory & Stefan Weidner

On June 28th 2013, Cologne’s citizens were called to symbolically interrupt their daily routine for two minutes at 11.00 am. Yael Bartana’s collective performance to commemorate the victims of the Nazism had internationally sparked off a controversial, at times polemic debate. Half a year after the event the evening is dedicated to consider the question of how art might intervene in the official policies of collective commemoration, which are governed by ritualized, standardized and often unspoken rules of tradition. An event organized by Impulse Theatre Biennale in cooperation with the Academy of the Arts of the World.

In English, Entrance 3 Euro

Akademie der Künste der Welt, Im Mediapark 7, Cologne

Through photography, film and installations, Yael Bartana critically explores the identity of Israel, her country of birth. Her works have been exhibited at the São Paulo Biennale (2010 & 2006), documenta 12 and at the Istanbul Biennale, amongst others. In 2011 she represented Poland at the 54th Venice Biennale.

Christina von Braun is Professor Emeritus at the Institute for Cultural Studies at the Humboldt University of Berlin as well as Director of the Centre for Jewish Studies in Berlin-Brandenburg. Since 2002, she has been a member of the Goethe Institute Board of Trustees and their 2nd Vice-President since 2008.

Oliver Marchart is Professor for Sociology at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts. His topics of interest include political and collective arts practices as well as the relationship between the arts and the public.

Noemi Schory is an independent documentary film producer as well as head of the Film Department at the Arts Faculty – Midrasha, Beit Berl College (since 2007). Her work focusses on the Israeli society as well as on the Holocaust and historic memory.

Stefan Weidner is a writer, translator and Islamic scholar. He is a founding member of the Academy of the Arts of the World in Cologne and editor-in-chief of Art&Thought, a journal published by the Goethe Institute promoting dialogue with the Islamic world.

„Two Minutes of Standstill“ by Yael Bartana

Conversation with Yael Bartana on „Two Minutes of Standstill”

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