The Schlossaneignung initiative has been founded in Berlin and is calling to break up the glorification of Prussia caused by the reconstruction of the Berlin Palace façades. The initative has launched a call for ideas asking how the suppressed traces of the site can be made visible again: The revolutions of 1848 and 1918, the period of the Weimar Republic, the Second World War, the division of Germany and the GDR, the peaceful revolution of 1989, the cultural appropriation of the building in 2004/2005 and the role of right-wing donors in the reconstruction of the façade.
Artists, designers and architects are invited to submit proposals on how these repressed layers of the site can be inscribed in the façades of the Humboldt Forum using artistic means. In addition to permanent, physical forms of intervention, the organisers are also interested in temporary, performative and artistic-research works. Artistic contributions that deal with fundamental changes to the programming, governance and handling of the collections are also possible if these proposals are also reflected in the urban space.
The status quo should not be seen as the end point of a painful process, but as a starting point that can be transformed and developed as part of a culture of remodelling that is open to different views and perspectives on history and takes into account the diversity of today's society. This would also prevent the building from being instrumentalised by right-wing extremist circles, who have campaigned and donated for the "faithful" reconstruction of the façades from the outset.
Proposals can be submitted until 15 September. A dozen artists and designers have already confirmed their participation, including the Förderverein Palast der Republik, Mischa Leinkauf, Karin Sander and Raumlabor. The jury for the call for ideas includes the curators Julia Grosse and Annette Maechteland the artist Hito Steyerl. On 10 October, the results will be presented and discussed at the neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst (nGbK) Berlin and published in a book by DOM-Publishers as well as communicated in other ways.
This call for ideas is the first step in a campaign that demands that the federal government, as owner and operator, undertakes further development of its building and organizes a realization competition for corresponding art-in-architecture projects and implements the results.
