Berlin 2000-2011: Playing Among the Ruins
September 23 - January 9, 2012
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

Installation view of Berlin 2000-2011: Playing Among the Ruins, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo, 2012
Photo: Keizo Kioku

Berlin 2000-2011: Playing Among the Ruins

Ever since the fall of the Wall in 1989, Berlin has undergone a continuous process of change, attracting world attention as a political, economic and cultural laboratory.

Since the 00s Berlin has become the hottest city in the world for artists. A loose social network is established facilitating cross-genre collaboration and interaction. In answer to the increasingly complicated socio-political situation that was driven by globalization, various social commentaries were concealed within every work, echoing through the streets of Berlin like music.

While the Wall stood, the people longed for liberation and Berlin came to symbolize their fight for freedom. This enthusiasm still remains and the free spaces dotted throughout the city are what make the present Berlin such a 'special place'. The micro-utopias presented 'here', these special places that we are permitted today, are expressed through videos, paintings, performances, etc., by 18 artists and projects that have gathered together from around the world to base themselves in Berlin. The history of society that replaces ideology, the reconstruction of stories, the relationship between spaces and identity brought about by intervention with the city, are questioned through performances, art, information, bodies, and urban spaces, demonstrating a spectacular creativity with a new phase of sensibility.

Berlin is the place where we can see a form of art that has yet to come. This exhibition is being held with the support of the Goethe-Institut, Japan, as part of the festivities to celebrate "150 Years Friendship Germany-Japan".

Press release, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2012


Exhibited work

Trustworthies, 2010-present

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