News

17
Apr
2024

Bublitz Programme 2024

A dark concert scene with audience and blue light, photo David Lössl

Copyright: David Lössl

Programme Overview 2024

 

Dear Readers and Friends,

In response to many requests and for better planning, we would like to give you a comprehensive overview of the fixed dates and the programme for 2024.

The 2024 program offers a wide range of artistic productions and works in various formats and genres that you can experience and attend in Germany, Poland, and Switzerland. These range from classical Persian music and visual art in solo and group exhibitions to reflections on memory structures and their individual and cultural significance.

Elshan Ghasimi performs as a soloist and a duo with Philipp Püschel or Hajo Wiesemann. The next concert will take place on 28 April as part of the Houbara Festival - Resonances Iran in Cologne's Stadtgarten.

For the summer, we invite you to Sergey Bratkov's solo exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Magdeburg on 9 June. Another highlight is the group exhibition NEUE ERINNERUNGEN by the EL ARBI BOUQDIB ARCHIVE on 17 August. Nine artists will dedicate themselves to the legacy of the mathematician, numerologist and poet El Arbi Bouqdib, who died in 2016. They will create new artworks: new memories of a hermetic and his complex cosmos. This will also open our new summer exhibition space in the historic Pumpwerk Berlin in Grünau.

We look forward to welcoming you to our events, engaging in dialogue with you, and celebrating culture together.

On behalf of the entire team

Eleonora Frolov
Julian Malte Hatem Schindele

One of the cryptic works by neo-romanticist Michal Martychowiec. On show from 19 April at the Rodiguez Foundation in Poszan in the exhibition "After".

After Hiroshima, 2024: Chromaluxe print on aluminium with glass and porcelain, a go board with stones in a wooden frame

After Hiroshima
2024
chromaluxe print on aluminium, glass, porcelain 48x44x11 cm

A first insight into the work of the new Elshan Ghasimi and Philipp Püschel duo.

Construction work on the new exhibition venue at the Pumpwerk Berlin.

Construction work at the new exhibition venue in the Pumpwerk Berlin, sunlight through a window falling on a worker
Posted by Joseph in News
19
Mar
2024

Fellowship Sergey Bratkov | Partnership Eleonora Frolov

Sergey Bratkov, Fuck a Star, 1989: a hand with raised middle finger holding a starfish in front of wallpaper, black and white

Sergey Bratkov: Fuck a Star (1989)

Sergey Bratkov is a fellow of Bublitz 2024
Partnership with the curator Eleonora Frolov

 

Dear Readers,

As a critic of the regime, political artist and Ukrainian, Sergey Bratkov is not the first and will certainly not be the last to be forced to leave Russia's chosen path:

The fate of Bratkov and thousands of other dissidents and intellectuals could also have taken place in the Stalin era with its devastating repressions, and even today, opponents of the war and all dissenters are in the crosshairs. The power of the Kremlin reaches far into Europe with its abhorrent harshness and brutality. Would Bratkov ever have imagined that his life's journey would lead him to Germany? After all, back in 1995, together with the Fast Reaction Group, he explored the atrocities committed by German soldiers during the Second World War in the exhibition "If I Were a German?".

Sergey Bratkov, Endless War, video still, 2010: two green steel helmets on a concrete floor in front of a wall

Sergey Bratkov: “Endless War” Video Still (2010)

Almost 30 years later, after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Bratkov came to Germany supported by the Artist at Risk organisation, which helps artists whose freedom and lives are at risk. The Berlin Senate also honoured Bratkov as a Fellow Weltoffenes Berlin with a grant for 2024 to establish his artistic position and voice in his new home.

Bublitz organises the fellowship; Bratkov will be supported by the artistic directors Eleonora Frolov and JMH Schindele during this period. Bublitz is a project partner of the Senate for the second time, following its collaboration with Iranian musician and composer Elshan Ghasimi in 2022.

Portrait of Sergey Bratkov, black and white, 2017

Sergey Bratkov, courtesy of the artist (2017)

Link to the exhibition 'Heldenzeiten' by Sergey Bratkov at the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg.

Bratkov, who represented Ukraine at the Venice Biennale in 2007, taught as a professor at the Rodchenko Art School for over two decades and educated two generations of young talent from all over Eastern Europe. As a representative of the Kharkiv School of Photography, his work can currently be seen in the exhibition Ukrainian Dreamers at the Kommunale Galerie Berlin. The Kunstmuseum Magdeburg is dedicating a solo exhibition to his work in the summer of 2024; future exhibitions are also being developed in collaboration with Bublitz.

Even though Sergey Bratkov had to leave his artistic homeland, he was spared the cruel fate of many other critical voices. Thanks to the support of friends, the Berlin Senate, and Bublitz, Bratkov can now continue to develop his unique visual language safely here in exile.

The thematic extension and focus on Eastern Europe result from the new partnership with curator Eleonora Frolov. She specialised in positions from Central and Eastern Europe and their working methods, which are characterised by deep traces of the former Eastern Bloc. As artistic directors of Bublitz, Frolov and JMH Schindele will jointly curate the program in the future.

Please get in touch with us here for interview requests, studio visits, and further information.

Sincerely,

Eleonora Frolov & JMH Schindele

Sergey Bratkov, Mona Bucha from the series Lost, 2022: a collage with a black coffin on a grey figure

Sergey Bratkov: “Mona Bucha” from the series “Lost“ (2022)

Partner of the fellowship Weltoffenes Berlin:

Logo of the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion
Posted by Joseph in News
01
Feb
2024

February 2024 // Events and ceremony for the Brecht Birthday

feel.jazz festival Vol. VII: Elshan Ghasimi at the microphone and Philipp Püschel with a flugelhorn in green light

© 2024 feel.jazz festival

Dear readers,

In a year that is no longer young but certainly not yet old, we wish you all the best: spirit, strong nerves, and peace of mind.

On Saturday, 3 February, tar master and composer Elshan Ghasimi will present her new program for the first time with jazz trumpeter and electronic musician Philipp Püschel at the feel.jazz festival at the Hafenklang in Hamburg.

Tickets and more about the festival, which starts on 2 February, can be found here.

Programme board “Saturday, 3 February 2024” with the acts in the Goldener Salon and the Saal, including Elshan Ghasimi & Philipp Püschel

© 2024 feel.jazz festival

"Don't hammer a nail in the wall" – a ceremony to mark Brecht's birthday.

With Mariam Meetra (Afghanistan), Atefe Asadi (Iran), Yirgalem Fisseha Mebrahtu (Eritrea) and Sveta Ben (Belarus), music by Elshan Ghasimi (Iran/Germany)

On Saturday, 10 February, at 3 pm, a special ceremony will take place in the inner courtyard of the Brecht House in Berlin and the adjacent Dorotheenstädtischer Friedhof cemetery. At a festive kick-off of the Brecht Days 2024, we will celebrate Bert Brecht's birthday with the Berlin public with music and readings by exiled poets. Admission is free!

More information.

Brecht-Tage 2024: a passport photo of Bertolt Brecht with Finnish stamps, Akademie der Künste Berlin

© Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Bertolt-Brecht-Archiv 2967

We look forward to welcoming you to our events in the new year, engaging in dialogue on-site, celebrating our cultures, and immersing ourselves more deeply in them.

 

Your Julian Malte Hatem Schindele

Posted by Joseph in News
15
Sep
2023

Circular 5 | 23 Premiere in Berlin “Nahfernost“

Elshan Ghasimi with her tar and a musician with a shakuhachi in front of a church altar with stained-glass windows

Dear reader,

The artistic encounter between the Persian setar master and composer Elshan Ghasimi and the flautist and shakuhachi player from Bremen Dieter Weische gave rise to the wish to deepen the dialogue between these two traditions. The desire became an idea, and they developed a new format: classical Persian and Japanese music merged into “Nahfernost” [Nearfareast].

Elshan Ghasimi has written new compositions for the concert on the 30th of September in the salon of the Schwartzsche Villa. They are based on classical literature-based pieces for the individual instruments. Together, she and Dieter Weische explore the relationship between rhythmic poetry and music and playfully show the similarities and differences between these ancient musical traditions.

 

Concert date
30th of September 2023
8 pm (admission from 7:30 pm, box office from 7 pm)
Tickets 18 € | red. 12 €
Buy tickets: https://www.eventbrite.de/e/elshan-ghasimi-dieter-weische-nahfernost-tickets-707449308927

 

Venue
Large Salon Schwartzsche Villa
Grunewaldstrasse 55
12165 Berlin

 

More information
www.elshanghasimi.com | https://www.floete-shakuhachi-bremen.de
© Photo Dieter Weische

Posted by Joseph in News
28
Aug
2023

Zirkular-Circular 4 | 23 Concerts & Exhibitions

A pale blue monochrome field, like a clear sky

Michal Martychowiec Blue #5 (Upper Lusatia)
(January 2016) chromogenic prints, 175x220 cm

Dear friends of summer,

I would like to draw your attention to several program items by the artists of Bublitz Infrastructure.

Firstly, Elshan Ghasimi is performing at the Kampnagel International Summer Festival in Hamburg on the 24th of August. On the 26th and 27th of August, she can be seen and, above all, heard at the Dara String Festival in Berlin at the Theater im Delphi. Further information and tickets can be found on the respective websites (links marked in green, as always).

In the unique atmosphere of the Wehrmuehle Museum at Art Biesenthal, Michal Martychowiec will be showing his, it must be said, heavenly photographs from the Blue series. These are accompanied, framed, and interrogated by a series of his Promethean neon works. The group exhibition with the optimistic as well as correct title Let Life be Beautiful like Summer Flowers was curated by Dan Chen and runs until the 24th of September. An unconditional recommendation to all Berliners for a lovely late summer excursion.

If you happen to be in the south, southeast of the republic, I recommend a visit to the Höpfgut in Breitenberg, Lower Bavaria. This summer, the BAUHAUS BAVARIA artists' summer residence took place here for the first time. As a result, the exhibition Beyond Landscape can be visited until the 3rd of September. The exhibition features works created on-site by Elshan Ghasimi, Rachel Harris, Julius Holtz, Markus Hoffmann, Peter Kees, JMH Schindele and Aline Weyel.

Wishing you the best,
JMH Schindele

Invitation “Beyond Landscape – In die Landschaft hinaus”, exhibition of the Bauhaus Bavaria artist residency in Breitenberg, 12 August to 3 September 2023, white text on blue
Poster “Let life be beautiful like summer flowers”, Art Biesenthal, 12 August to 24 September 2023, yellow flower shapes and a list of artists
A deep blue monochrome field

Michal Martychowiec Blue #3 (Pomerania)
(November 2013) chromogenic prints, 175x220 cm

Posted by Joseph in News
06
Aug
2023

Premiere of the music film “The Reinterpretation of the Radīf | Dastgāh-e Shur”

Dear friends and those interested in the Renaissance of ancient cultures,

The Radīf is the repertoire of Persian classical music. This collection of melodies, divided into twelve modular systems, called the Dastgāhs and Avâz’, has been passed down orally for thousands of years.

The continuity and vitality of this tradition has always depended on its transmission from one generation to the next. However, since its initial transcription into Western notation, and the first sound recordings in the mid-20th century, an actual renewal of the repertoire had never been attempted. As a result, this tradition has stagnated and is now in danger of collapsing due to a lack of young people.

In the autumn of 2022 (1401 in the Persian calendar), the Iranian composer, virtuoso and tar master Elshan Ghasimi premiered the first chapter of her reinterpretation of the Radīf according to Mirza Abdollah at the Bode-Museum in Berlin. She is thus the first female musician to dedicate herself to the systematic renewal of this classical tradition and intangible cultural heritage.

Filmmakers Stefan Stark and Pujan Shakupa (Stark & Shakupa) sat down with the artist and myself as artistic directors to "revive this old tradition with new images". The result is a musical film of extraordinary beauty, sensitivity and colour that you can find here: The Reinterpretation of the Radif | Dastgāh-e Shur.

 

On behalf of everyone involved, I wish you many refreshing summer days,

Julian Malte Hatem Schindele

Elshan Ghasimi playing the tar in red light, film still from “The Reinterpretation of the Radīf”, 2023

© Stark & Shakupa

Posted by Joseph in News