Pergamon

Wednesday, June 20.

Today Sara and I went to the Pergamon Museum, to use our 3 Day Museum Passes.  I wanted to see the Pergamon because of its monumental pieces of the Ishar Gate and Pergamon Altar.  First walking in, you see the enormous Pergamon Altar straight on.  Here is a view from the side.  It is a sight to be seen, as are the number of people here only 30 minutes after the museum opened.  Many of them have audio guides and are examining the artifacts while listening to information about each piece.  Sara and I decided to go around without the audio guides, strictly gaining information by reading the pieces.  I think the audio guides would have been helpful, as many of the signs don't have English translations, but that would have made it hard to discuss the artifacts amongst each other.

Here I am in front of an Ancient Roman marketplace, the Gate of Miletus, dating from about 120 CE.  I have loved learning about the Romans these past few semesters, so anytime I see anything from Rome I get excited.  This market hall structure was enormous, spanning the whole side of the room!  The natural light from the high ceilings gave all the objects a natural glow.  The monumental statues in the side galleries acted as centerpieces, pulling you in to each gallery just to see what the object was.

Here is Sara in front of the Ishar Gate, one of my favorites! This gate was absolutely stunning, a true sight to behold.  I love the gold and dark blue colors.  Using this as an entry way made it hard to examine closely, but the exhibits on the sides were helpful to understand more about the gate.  Since we were moving through the museum fairly quickly in order to see multiple museums, I missed a lot of the information about this gate.

Here is a piece from the Islamic area, which was very well organized in chronological order.  This upstairs section guided us through, with very few dead ends or points where we needed to turn around. I was fascinated by the beautiful patterns and bright colors.

Now, this one was a huge surprise! Towards the end of our trip, I was walking quickly through the last few galleries when I spotted one of these guys from a gallery over.  The Lamassu! I remembering learning about them about 2 years ago in Intro to Ancient Art History.  While I had to look up the name, the Lamassu is a protective deity, sometimes placed at the entrance to a city to ward off enemies. I was so impressed by the immensity of these guardians, and I love the fact that they have 5 legs so that they will be accurate from the side view and the front view.

Sara and I had a very good time at the Pergamon.

In the evening, after my museums class we took off for the Foto Festival.  Here we looked around for a short time before seeing a movie about war photographer Robert King.  I really liked the movie a lot, but it was very chilly inside the outdoor tent.  At the end, Robert and the movie producer answered questions.  It was chilling to see Robert's answers to some of the questions, he is a very intense individual.  I enjoyed the movie, which gave insight into the difficult lives of war photographers.

Reichstag

Tuesday, June 19.

Today was a long and busy day. We started off early with a meeting and then a tour of Reichstag.  My favorite parts were the Russian graffiti preserved on the walls and the views from the top of Reichstag. It was interesting learning about the way that German government works, and the history of the Reichstag building itself.

After that we walked for a good long time to Museum Insel.  Sara and I decided to save our 3 days passes for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday so that we could fully enjoy the museums. Instead, in the hour time we had, we walked around the whole complex, taking pictures of the beautiful courtyards and the exterior of the museums.

While the Holocaust memorial is unmistakable when you walk by the area, Ullman’s Book Burning Memorial is easy to pass, and even step on, without noticing.  Ullman takes a more subtle approach, letting viewers seek out instead of assaulting them with a memorial that is impossible to miss.  I liked both memorials, even though they are very different from each other.  While Ullman’s was harder to see, the empty bookshelves seem haunting, just as the Holocaust memorial.

On our way back, we stopped to examine some wall art near Alexanderplatz.  The artists I have seem the most of art Alias, el Bocho, and Mein Lieber Prost.  These artists seem ready and willing to put their art anywhere and everywhere.  I like images that stand alone, but seeing artists play off one another makes for interesting commentary.  Alias is one of my favorite artists.  While many of the street art I have seen seems colorful, eye catching, and sometimes even frivolous, Alias always has a serious and somber tone, using his black, white, and red colors sparingly and simply.  He seems to give a voice to those who have no voice, and sometimes no face, and I always enjoy spotting one of his images on the streets.

 

Look, another Alias!

East Side Gallery

Monday, June 18th.

Today started off slowly. After breakfast, I worked on readings in my room until Catie and I stopped for lunch at a small Chinese place, two doors down.  The food was yummy and fairly cheap!  We walked around the neighborhood for a while, checking out some clothing shops and antique stores. I bought two very cool postcards to send to Mom and Matthew.  I communicated enough German to an older women to buy some delicious strawberries!

Later in the evening, the Art groups went to the East Side Gallery on the Berlin Wall.  It was pouring rain during the beginning of the trip which made it hard to take pictures and examine the images.  As a museum, the East Side Gallery does not work very well.  Hence, the word “gallery”.  There is only a small sign and a long audio tape you can press that is not as interesting or concise or informative as it could be.  As a “commissioned gallery” I would have enjoyed more signs or placards which would indicate what the original images were, what was the purpose, maybe even a small artist statement.  This seems to create a paradox or divide between the commissioned “graffiti” art and the “true” graffiti art which is done against the law.  Freedom of expression is questioned, whether through the copies that the government wants to make.

I enjoyed what I saw on the wall, but more information may have helped, if the point was to educate the public.  While many parts of the wall were filled with what many would consider beautiful, recognizable, or thought-provoking pieces of art, there was also many examples of genuine graffiti, words and phrases quickly splashed on empty spaces, or over current images, with spray paint.

There were some "signs" directly on the paintings indicating the artist and sometimes a website to get a hold of the artist.  There were also a few examples that said "Copy 2009 by:  ____" which I took to mean that another artist repainted an image that was already once on the wall.

The use of political figures was prevalent, and many of the images related to social or politicial issues in one way or another, many dealing with splits such as the East/West Berlin split itself or the Apartheid in South Africa.

 

 It was interesting the sign said “It is forbidden to deface or damage the Wall,” speaking of defacement as the uncommissioned graffiti images which were very prevalent.  My favorite use of uncommissioned graffiti was on a quote in English and German.  On the English side it said “He who wants the world to remain as is doesn’t want it to remain at all.” A rogue artist added an S in from the of the HE to form the word, SHE.

 I also enjoyed watching other people’s reactions to the Gallery.  Many took pictures of the Wall, touched it, took pictures with it, and I even saw one man kissing the giant portrait image of another man as a photo opportunity.  I’ve been taking the shoot from the hip mentality and I have some images of other viewers of the wall.

It is hard to even imagine the immensity of what was once the Berlin Wall, now that it is covered with beautiful and powerful art. From a historical perspective, it seems that the division and reunification is downplayed.  Many average tourists or average viewers see cool artwork, forgetting that this wall once kept families from seeing each other.  I wish that this monument was used more a memorial along with a gallery.  While I think the idea of the gallery brings hope and unity between the two sides, I think that it is important to remember what happened at the wall and the pain these people shared for so long.

Kreuzberg gave a more authentic street artist feeling, as the work was all done on free will and not due to a commission.  The work appeared almost natural, building up over time and using the architecture of an old train yard to create art.  In some places it appeared as if some graffiti art was covered up, but the peeling, gray, top coat revealed the bright works underneath.

We saw what appeared to be Bansky, Vils, El Bocho, Just, and Alias, among others.  The viewers here seemed not to give the works a second glance, frequenters of these spots.  This is the beauty of the street art, that it goes unnoticed by so many, and even seems unimpressive in some cases.  In this way, Vils' piece was not as impressive as one might think, being inside the gated area and off to the side so it was harder to see.

 

 The day ended with a delicious dinner of Doner Kebaps from a small restaurant in Kreuzberg.  The sandwich was huge, and definitely filled our stomachs as we watched Croatia and Spain play in the Euro Cup.

 

Yum!

First day of classes

Sunday, June 17.

After breakfast, a few of us went to the Flohmarkt at Mauerpark. It took us a while to find it, but the weather was beautiful so the walk was nice. The flea market was filled with tiny treasure and interesting objects.  It was similar to what I expect when I think of a flea market back home, a mix of handmade items, old items, and food!

We wandered around, but didn't buy anything. I plan on going back next Sunday to pick up some fun gifts for my family and for myself.

My first day of classes went well, and I am eager to see some of the amazing excursions we have planned.

After dinner, a group of us went to watch the Germany vs. Denmark Euro Cup game at the Brandenburger Tor with thousands of other German fans! This is a dream come true! I love the German team, so I was very excited to see them play "almost" in person.  Podolski scored the first goal, though we didn't get there until the second half. 

Luckily we did see the game winning goal by Lars Bender, and the crowd went crazy!  It was a fun time, and I am definitely going to see the Germany vs. Greece quarter final on Friday.

Tour of Berlin

Saturday, June 16.


I had a good night's rest after the seemingly never-ending travel from Schaumburg to Berlin on very little sleep.  After spending the morning taking care of phone business at the Saturn at Alexanderplatz, we went on a tour of Berlin lead by one of the professors of the trip.

My first real observations of Berlin: it is very clean, it is very beautiful, it is a strange mix of modern with flairs from older times, and people are never on their phones like you see in the United States! It is amazing to see people actually communicating with one another rather than having their faces in their phones.

I love hearing about the history of Berlin, and the interesting details that David points out to us.

Marienkirche, St. Mary's Church, was one of my favorites sites. Here we see one of the numerous examples of bullet holes which create a lasting impact on the landscape, signs of the past which cannot be forgotten.  The church is the oldest building in Berlin, dating back to the 1300s.

I love the details inside the church, including sculptures of angels and chandeliers.  We see other sights of Berlin, including the Berlin Cathedral which was "commissioned" by Kaiser Wilhelm to be built in the style of the older Prussian buildings. It looks very old, but was actually built around 1910.  We see the armory, Humbolt University, Neue Wache, and of course...

Brandenburger Tor!  The most famous monument of Berlin.  When Napoleon conquered Berlin he apparently dragged the quadriga back to France, though as you can see it was eventually returned to the Gate.

And the Soviet War Memorial.  There were Russian coins on the inscription, paying respects to fallen Soviets.  I found this memorial surprising, but I'm appreciative of it.  While war is never right, I think it is important to honor those who directly or indirectly lost lives due to violence.

The Holocaust Memorial was last.  This memorial was even more profound and had a bigger impact than I had imagined it would be.  I wandered off from the group a little, becoming enveloped in the giant gray slabs which varied in height.  It definitely gives an impression of the immensity of the lives lost during the Holocaust, which I think makes it a successful art piece for those who take the time to experience it.  Anyone who enters immediately becomes overwhelmed by the pillars.  In other ways, it is unsuccessful because many people don't take the time to contemplate or understand.  I saw many people jumping, standing, and taking pictures on the pillars, a sign of disrespect.  I think the site, being near the Brandenburger Tor and a lot of tourist shops and restaurants, makes it hard for this to be as haunting as the location for the Soviet Memorial.

First day ended with a delicious welcome dinner of traditional German food!

Introduction

Hallo! I am Emily, a UofL student studying in Berlin for the next month. For both of my classes, I need to keep a journal to document certain aspects of this study abroad experience.

Urban and Public Art: importance of site and place in the art being portrayed, locating works of certain street artists from Berlin and other popular street artists

Museum Exhibition and Display: notes from our excursions around Berlin, and most notably my visits to museums and galleries, how my experiences impact my thoughts and observations

I will try to post as often as possible, including images I have taken with one of my two cameras.

Tschuss!