Model and Ruin

In commemoration of the Bauhaus anniversary, the Werkleitz Festival 2019 will stage a programme in Dessau entitled “Model and Ruin”. The title was inspired by the seemingly contradictory relationship of models and ruins. However, both possess something inherently unfinished and artificial, and both share a connection to the present: the model as a vision of a future yet to be built, and the ruin as the remains of an often idealised past. Through confrontation and interaction of artistic positions with the urban environment and the historical circumstances of the city of Dessau, the project will cast a new light on the presumably well-known legacy of the Bauhaus. The aim of the Werkleitz Festival 2019 is to position the Bauhaus in a more comprehensive historical context.

The festival’s organisers invited 13 internationally renowned artists to explore the antipodal dynamics of models and ruins and engage with the sites they discover in town.

The artworks will be presented on the grounds between the Master House ensemble, the “Georgengarten”, the Georgium Palace and the Mausoleum, and will interact with other structural elements in the park. Depending on one’s viewing angle, visitors will be able to experience them as models, ruins, or both at the same time. The ruin can serve as a model, and in every model lies a future ruin.

The open-air exhibition will be supplemented by other festival events, including a publication, thematic excursions, a film programme, guided tours and a film installation in the Feininger/Moholy-Nagy Master House.

Artistic directors: Daniel Herrmann and Alexander Klose
Artists: Haseeb Ahmed (US/BE), Rosa Barba (IT/DE), Aram Bartholl (DE), Michael Beutler (DE), Haris Epaminonda (CY/DE), Holmer Feldmann (DE), Angela Ferreira (MZ/PT), Nikolaus Gansterer (AT), Christoph Girardet (DE), Cornelius Grau (DE), Romain Löser (FR/DE), Andrea Pichl (DE) and Magdalena Rude (DE).

Cooperation partners: Förderverein Mausoleum Dessau, Anhalt Picture Gallery, Förderverein Anhaltische Gemäldegalerie und Georgengarten Dessau e.V., Förderverein Mausoleum e.V. Dessau, Kiez-Kino, Kulturstiftung Dessau-Wörlitz, Kurt-Weill-Gesellschaft e.V., Museum für Stadtgeschichte Dessau, Rotary Club Dessau, Stadt Dessau-Roßlau, Stadtarchiv Dessau-Roßlau, Förderverein Technikmuseum "Hugo Junkers“ Dessau e.V., Tierpark Dessau, VorOrt e.V.