T4b00

with
Anna Banout
Sven Bergelt
Rupert Enticknap
Takashi Kunimoto
Peng Li
Camila Rhodi

and a participatory installation of R Stein Wexler

Graphic: Viktor Schmidt/Nora Keilig

Exhibition

25/10/2024 – 2/2/2025

Curated by Vanessa Göppner and Janine Pauleck

»T4b00« is the fourth part of the annual programme KANTEN UND KNOTEN

Events

24/10/2024 from 6 pm
Opening

31/10/2024 7:30 pm
Halloween Special
Exhibition tour [in German language]

16/11/2024 2-3pm
Performance “We are five”
by Chryssa Tsampazi

25/11/2024 4-7 pm
Performance “Do you wanna talk about it?”
with Camila Rhodi

1/12/2024 2-4 pm
Neighborhood meeting
“Coffee, cake and taboo”

10/12/2024 4-7 pm
Performance “Do you wanna talk about it?”
with Camila Rhodi

14/12/2024 from 4:15 pm
Experimental open air cinema
“Crow Cinema”
by Lilli Kuschel

16/1/2025 7 pm
Exhibition tour [in English]

25.1 & 26/1/2025 each 3 – 4pm
“Taboo.talks”
with Celica Fitz and Marita Günther

2/2/2025 from 4 pm
Finissage

24/10/2024 from 6 pm

7 pm
Performance “CURE VIII” by Jena Jang

8:15 pm
DJane FunkyKid

On Thursday, 24 October 2024, Bärenzwinger warmly invites you to the opening of the exhibition “T4b00”.

Taboos are invisible lines that frame individuals and communities. They are deeply rooted in history, culturally shaped and influence our perception and understanding of identity. “T4b00”, the fourth exhibition in our annual programme KANTEN UND KNOTEN, explores the impact of taboos on individuals and society. Six artistic positions selected through an open call make taboos visible from different perspectives and create a dialogue-based space for reflection and a change of perspective.

The title “T4b00” plays with the visualisation and alienation of the term “taboo”. The deliberate coding of the word emphasises the hidden yet omnipresent nature of taboos – something that remains unspoken but is nevertheless present in the room.

In her sculptural work, Anna Banout explores the power of language and in particular the transformative power of names as carriers of identity and memory. Sven Bergelt’s video work visualises how deeply taboos affect us and determine our actions. Questions of inner and outer freedom are negotiated. In his work, Peng Li addresses the omnipresent censorship in China using the example of Winnie the Pooh and the ban on selected information and events during the coronavirus pandemic.

Takashi Kunimoto’s video work deals with the topic of intersexuality and questions normative notions of identity and gender. In their sound installation, Rupert Enticknap sheds light on taboo aspects of male identities, such as the expression of grief. Camila Rhodi deals with trauma and sexual violence in her video installation. With a focus on female perspectives, Rhodi invites the audience to reflect on the invisibility and taboo nature of (sexual) violence in our patriarchal society.

R Stein Wexler’s participatory installation invites the public to anonymously submit answers to the question “What would you think, say, or do if it weren’t taboo?”. Submissions here.

The exhibition is accompanied by a varied supporting programme that includes exhibition tours, performances, an experimental open-air cinema, workshops and other educational activities.

With the artists of the Open Call: Anna Banout, Sven Bergelt, Rupert Enticknap, Takashi Kunimoto, Peng Li, Camila Rhodi.
And with a participatory installation by R Stein Wexler.

Jena Jang’s performance CURE VIII is part of an ongoing series being developed since 2020 as part of their PhD programme in time-based media (Visual Communication). Inspired by the Japanese Butoh dance technique and the concept of the “body without organs”, Jang explores the embodiment of entities beyond the human ego. Themes such as superstition, shamanism, ancient ceremonies, spiritual practices and healing rituals are incorporated into their work to translate the cultural, anthropological and historical significance of these often overlooked practices into contemporary art and music. Jang’s performances recall those hidden aspects of existence that defy scientific explanation.

In CURE VIII, Jang aims to reconnect with the primal energy of nature. Magical song and dance create a ritualistic space that addresses the cultural roots and unity between humans and nature. The audience is invited to sit or stand in a circle around Jang, in an arrangement reminiscent of ancient gatherings. Everyone is free to join the dance.

Jena Jang, born in South Korea, lives and works as a vocalist, experimental musician and performance artist in Prague, Czech Republic. They combine powerful electronics, extended vocal techniques and hand-built modular synthesisers to create raw, energetic performances. Influenced by Buddhist chants, yogic breathing exercises and Korean music traditions such as Pansori and Samulnori, Jang combines physical forms of expression such as headbanging and crawling to transform trauma and negative memories into cathartic experiences. Dance, yoga and breathing techniques play a central role in their interdisciplinary practice.

FunkyKid is a Tunisian DJ/Producer based in Berlin. Her music is an extension of her fun, playful and silly personality featuring bouncy uplifting Techno and Trance at 150BPM.

Thursday, 31 October 2024, 7:30 pm

Free entry

No registration needed.

Language: German

This Halloween, dive into the depths of taboos with us! Join curators Vanessa Göppner and Janine Pauleck for a guided tour of „T4b00“ at the Bärenzwinger.
Taboos are the invisible lines that shape individuals and communities, woven deep into our history and culture.

They influence how we perceive and understand identity. Join us on a  journey into the heart of what we often keep silent as the exhibition tour unravels the effects of taboos on both individuals and society. Six artistic position will illuminate these hidden lines.

Saturday, 16 November 2024, 2 pm

by Chryssa Tsampazi

Free entry

The event will be held in German.

Performers: Konstantin Bez, Paolo Gallio, Francesca Locanto, Sylvia Schwarz, Loukas Sdrolias and Maya Vasila

The performance “Wir Sind Fünf” (‘We Are Five’) is based on the text ‘Gemeinschaft’ (‘Community’) by the writer Franz Kafka:

‘We are five friends, we once came out of a house one after the other […] Since then we have lived together, it would be a peaceful life if a sixth one didn’t keep interfering […]. He doesn’t do anything to us […]. We don’t know him and don’t want to take him in. The five of us didn’t know each other before, and if you like, we don’t know each other now either, but what is possible and tolerated with the five of us is not possible with the sixth […]. Besides, we are five and we don’t want to be six. […] But no matter how much we push him away, he will come back.’

(Franz Kafka – Gemeinschaft)

The community of the five friends has a special relationship with the sixth person. It only comes into being through the defence against the sixth person and draws its strength from this. Who are the five without the sixth? Is she not a friend? Is she a ghost? The work deals with the perception of reality between the ‘five’ and the ‘sixth’.

During the performance, the six participants speak parts of Kafka’s text, with the position and movement of the bodies as living sculptures adding further layers. The people move, stand still, speak a sentence, sometimes remain silent and change their position. They repeat themselves – sometimes thoughtfully, sometimes angrily. In this way, the group slowly becomes a time-shifted choir, which speaks of five, although six are present.

Bio:
Chryssa Tsampazi (born 1975 in Germany, grew up in Northern Greece) studied acting and theater in Athens and graduated with an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Her artistic work explores the performance of language and the collective creative experience. The bodies of the artist and the participants function both as subjects and as mediating mechanisms of the works. Tsampazi’s works and performances have been shown internationally, including at Galerie im Turm; Sullivan Galleries, Chicago; IV. Moscow Biennial, Moscow; 4th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art; Numismatic Museum, Athens; Kunstverein Tiergarten, Berlin; Alpha Nova/Galerie Futura, Berlin. In 2022 she received the Berlin Senate’s research grant and visual arts project funding. She lives and works in Berlin.

Anna Banout (born 1992) is a Syrian-Polish experimental designer and artist. She studied product design, creative coding and basketry at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. In her research-based work, she weaves a rich tapestry of design processes combined with cultural narratives. Her diverse background profoundly influences her work and drives her to explore and challenge the intricate relationships between people and objects.

Banout‘s work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions internationally, including at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (Hamburg), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Radialsystem V (Berlin) and Station Gallery (Beirut). She has taken part in various design festivals, such as the Gdynia Design Days, the Łódź Design Festival, Ambiente Frankfurt and Maison&Objet Paris.

She has received several awards and scholarships, including the International Diploma Selection (Designblok, Prague), Adam Mickiewicz Institute and Feldfünf Berlin. She currently lives and works in Pszów, Poland.

Sven Bergelt (born in Leipzig) studied at the Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts Kiel and the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig. In his artistic practice, he works in the fields of installation, conceptual art and artistic research. His research-based, site-specific projects deal with spaces, architecture and the social and historical structures anchored in them.

He is particularly interested in questions of a contemporary culture of remembrance, the transformation of communication through digital technologies and political and social crises. Bergelt‘s works have been exhibited internationally, including at HALLE 14 (Leipzig), the Kunstverein Ebersberg and the National Theatre Mannheim.

He is co-founder of the artist collective Situation Room and has been teaching at the Institute for Theory at the HGB Leipzig since 2013. He lives and works in Leipzig.

Rupert Enticknap (born in the UK) studied at King’s College London, the Royal College of Music London and UAL Central Saint Martins. Their trans-disciplinary practice oscillates between and within music, choreography and installation. Enticknap is engaged in a performative exploration of the body. With a focus on the voice as a means of expression, Rupert examines the role of the body and voice in social and political discourse.

Their current research interests include the concepts of failure, masculinities, the body as an archive, and English folk dance. They have performed internationally, including at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Bavarian State Opera, the Berlin State Opera and the Theater an der Wien.

As a performer and dancer, they have appeared at the Volksbühne Berlin, Sophiensaele Berlin and Nowy Teatr Warsaw, among others. Enticknap’s most recent works have been supported by Fonds Daku, the Goethe-Institut and INM e.V. They live and work in Berlin.

Takashi Kunimoto (born in Japan) grew up in Japan and studied sociology at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, where he was particularly interested in documentary films. After the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Kunimoto moved to Germany in 2012 and began studying fine arts at the Braunschweig University of Art.

Kunimoto’s artistic practice includes installations and films that have been shown in Germany and Japan, including at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, the European Media Art Festival and the Image Forum Festival.

His film “Robert” was awarded the Förderpreis der Stadt Karlsruhe at the dokKA-Festival 11 (2024). In addition to media production, he has organised various media education projects with young people. Kunimoto lives and works in Braunschweig.

Peng Li (born 1986, Hunan, China) studied Fine Arts, Painting and Graphics at the South China University of Technology and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. He works with a diverse range of media, continuously expanding the boundaries of his practice.

Over the past few years, his profound interest in materials, the creative process, and the social context has shaped every aspect of his artistic practice. His works combine personal memories with collective memories and traumatic experiences from the past and present.

His work has been presented internationally, including at Lenbach Palais (Munich), Canal Street Research Association (New York City, USA), and Haus am Lützowplatz (Berlin). He currently lives and works in Munich.

Camila Rhodi (born 1978, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work includes theatre, video, performance, audio, drawing and installation. She studied Fine Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Realistic Drawing and Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts Barcelona, Performance & Choreography at the Justus Liebig University Giessen,

Aesthetics at UNIRIO in Rio de Janeiro and Drama at the Escola Estadual de Teatro Martins Penna. In her artistic practice, she explores sexual themes, examines the complexities of identity and touches on universal ideas such as love, desire, violence, loss, and grief.

Her work has been shown internationally, including at the WRO Art and Media Biennale (Poland), Manifesta (Russia), Sophiensaele and Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin), Bienalsur and FIDBA (Buenos Aires), viennacontemporary and OI Futuro (Rio de Janeiro). She lives and works in Berlin.