OUTDOOR-EXHIBITION “SPIEL-STRASSE”

Location: Around the Kastanienplatz in Berlin-Kreuzberg

What does playing in the street” mean today? – “Spiel-Straße” is a educational project of the URBAN NATION Museum. Together with pupils of class 5c from the Otto-Wels-Grundschule, the art educator and photographer Markus Georg went on a photo search game through Kreuzberg. Using photos of playgrounds and other exciting spots in the neighborhood, which were taken in the 1970s, the children searched for the respective locations and captured photographically what it looks like there today – 50 years later. The historical photographs were provided by the archives of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Museum and show playgrounds, streets or children playing.These scenes had to be tracked down, re-enacted and captured with a smartphone. The current playgrounds were also caught and thus documented.

The results can now be seen from November 27, 2020 to January 31, 2021 in an outdoor exhibition around Kastanienplatz in Kreuzberg.

“Spiel-Strasse” is an example of the URBAN NATION Museum’s approach to art education: We work together with partner schools in the Gewobag neighborhoods on artistic themes. The creative work of the pupils starts with the creation of photos and media formats and ends with the production of the flyer or leaflet about the project itself. The children are enthusiastic about the project and proudly present their results to the public at the end.” – Jan Sauerwald, Director of the URBAN NATION Museum

The concept of “Spiel-Strasse” was developed in the context of the current exhibition “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures” at the URBAN NATION Museum. The series of works “Street Play” (2005), published by the US-American photographer, shows children playing imaginatively in New York City and focuses on the creative spirit of children in the city, who independently explore places and also develop games.

Thanks to the financial support of the Berliner Projektfonds Kulturelle Bildung and the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg District Office as well as the Foundation Berliner Leben, a foundation of Gewobag, the education project was successfully implemented.

Photos: Victoria Tomaschko