MCL PRESENTS #5

City in Transformation: Artistic Reactions to Urban Change

Panel discussion with Marc Hennig, Christian Rothenhagen, and Cornelia Thiele,
moderated by Nicholas Ganz

Date: December 4, 2024
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: URBAN NATION Museum, Bülowstr. 7, 10783 Berlin
Free Admission / No Registration Required
The discussion will be held in German

Who owns the city? Numerous stakeholders are active in urban spaces, claiming them for themselves. At times, these visions and implementations contrast with the lived realities of the residents, leading to conflicts, gentrification, and displacement. These changes often occur without the democratic participation of local inhabitants. In response, art that engages with urban spaces operates outside this power structure, and shapes—often without being asked—public space. It can represent an unwelcome appropriation or an open critique of power relations.

Berlin, in particular, has been a focal point for artistic engagement due to the wall that physically and symbolically divided the city for almost 40 years. In this edition of MCL presents #5, we take a closer look at historical and contemporary artistic perspectives and their reflections on urban transformation.

Nicholas Ganz will moderate the discussion with Christian Rothenhagen/deerBLN, who will share his personal and artistic perspective on the changes in the city, Cornelia Thiele, who, as curator of the Berlin Wall Foundation, will discuss the significance and reception of Wall art, and Marc Hennig, who will talk about his artistic projects in public spaces.

Participants

Nicholas Ganz is a freelance artist and author based in Berlin. He painted his first graffiti in 1994 and published his first book, Graffiti World, a decade later, which became an international bestseller. In his artistic work, he explores contrasts, both in the techniques he uses—combining classical oil painting with street art forms—and in the themes he addresses, portraying the contrasts of human life.

Christian Rothenhagen/deerBLN is a freelance artist, designer, and author who grew up in Berlin. He became known for his conceptual, architecture-focused drawings, installations, and murals that capture urban transformation as snapshots of a city. His art is primarily displayed in galleries and museums, as well as subtly hidden in urban spaces. For over 20 years, his work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions across Europe, the USA, Canada, Lebanon, China, and Japan. In 2023, his book Für immer ist morgen vorbei was released, in which he reflects on memories of friendships, encounters, disappointments, and successes.

Cornelia Thiele is a historian and curator specializing in contemporary history post-1945, democracy development, and topics of flight and migration. She has curated historical exhibitions at various museums and, in recent years, has developed digital mediation formats. Since 2022, she has been the curator of the Collection and Archive at the Berlin Wall Foundation. Along with her colleague Lysette Laffin, she contributed to the exhibition display on the art of the Berlin Wall in the current exhibition Love Letters to the City at the URBAN NATION Museum.

Marc Hennig AKA APE 152 has lived and worked as an artist in Düsseldorf since the 1980s, preferably in public spaces. Together with his brother, he founded the artist group Majobrothers. His work focusses on painting, illustration, graphics, wooden objects and scenery. Since 2007 he has been the organiser and curator of various exhibitions, which take place in temporary spaces and in public spaces. In 2010, he also founded the association Verbunt-Jugendkunst Düsseldorf e.V..