First off the press and a weekend in Dresden

Thursday morning and heavy snow for a studio visit to Marion Kahnemann  http://mkahnemann.de an interesting artist who has done much on the subject of commemoration in Dresden. In particular I like her transparent park benches with words inscribed which have been situated in public places where Jews were not allowed.

Torsten for blogFriday the first complete prints off the press, a slightly nerve racking moment. but Torsten remains calm and precise throughout and we work all day. In the evening I walk down river and across the bridge to the Semper Opera to see the Marriage of Figaro. The audience is very elegant, lots of evening dress and bow ties, despite having put on a skirt I feel somewhat under-dressed! A modern dress performance, largely played for laughs, the women better than the men, I am too tired to fully enjoy it and dive out quickly before the endless clapping they do here and into a taxi and home.

Opera house for Blog

Saturday, beautiful weather clear and crisp and I explore the Neustadt Gallery scene. The part of town near my apartment has a number of galleries dealing in 20th century German art and I spend a wonderful couple of hours browsing. The weekly farmers market, a chance to avoid the uninspiring supermarkets, consists of three sad looking stalls; the weather has kept most stall holders and buyers away. I walk the entire Neustadt in organised fashion noting places to return. Later in the day I meet the very delightful Susanne Ritschel at Café Neustadt, a place for good cake, and we talk about all things Dresden. In particular the Stolpersteine-Project, which she is working on as a volunteer. http://www.stolpersteine.com/EN/home.html is an amazing project and we start talking about whether it may be possible to have such a ‘stumbling block’ for that is what it means, as a commemoration in front of my grandparents and mother last home in Dresden.

Terry Duffy for BlogSunday and I am at the Kreuzkirche for the 9.30 morning service and the installation by British artist Terry Duffy of the painting ‘Victims – No Resurrection’ a 4 metres+ painting in a cross configuration suspended above the altar. Painted in the 1980’’s in the dark, angst ridden and expressive painterly tradition of that era, it stands in defiant contradiction to all the baroque loveliness that is Dresden. This service, the stern sermon and Duffy’s grim work two days before the 13th February Dresden’s ‘Diem horribilem’ reinforces the sense of tragedy that hangs palpably over this city.

River walk Sunday for blog

 

4 thoughts on “First off the press and a weekend in Dresden

  1. marcelle

    wonderful and evocative description you give Monica, I have never been to Dresden but been several times to Germany and have friends there, all of my generation and like you I have been moved by the courage and frankness and need to get some understanding in what happened in those terrible years which have shaped our lives.
    The workshop sounds very inspiring too, can’t wait to see some of your new work
    xxM

    Reply
  2. Sasa Marinkov

    Dear Monica, I have followed your fascinating tour so thank you for introducing me to things I do not know enough about, plus walking along the river in the snow, the opera, cakes, the Print Studio…. but it is chilling to hear about the Far Right. Looking forward to seeing your print works!

    Reply

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