Arts of the Working Class joins the inauguration of TON 1, one of the oldest buildings in the former Berliner Union Film Ateliers (BUFA). On September 22, TON 1 will kick off with a full day of tours, conversations, nourishing gatherings, artworks and musical interventions, as part of the environmental and cultural activism hub the campus has become: the Atelier Gardens. Responding to the history of the building and the nature of the space, the team of the street newspaper creates a program titled Mutuality, Not Charity, Will Save Us, addressing the ambivalences surrounding utopian promises for a better world, as part of their overarching topic Loops of Power, an ongoing editorial and curatorial project within the paper’s issues.
AWC departs from a selection of silent films by Urban Gad, Ernst Lubitsch and Adolf Edgar Licho on the suspended curtains in the hall that once hosted its production, over 100 years ago. The cello and voice of Franziska Aigner orchestrates the atmosphere of TON 1. The projected films are a glimpse into the cinematographic history of the hall, as well as giving broader reflections on different cultural contexts within and around the neighborhood of Tempelhof, and the social and ideological shifts it has witnessed.
The photography series Berlin Fassaden by Asta Gröting will cover fragments of walls at the entrance to the campus of Atelier Gardens, visually connecting the history of urban transformation and contemporary art practices in Berlin, and unveiling the intrinsic dependencies between them for Berlin’s self-reflection. In the former Casino, the canteen next to TON 1, renderings of empty buildings in the city let out for real estate speculation will be displayed on flags, produced with Lena Kocutar and Teresa Hoffmann, in dialogue with the riddling paintings of Paul Sochacki.
The surrounding courtyard will be a gathering ground for food, resembling the dynamics of AWC’s market called Souls for Foods, together with ROKU, AbenoAbenue, Melanie Wehrli and Roots Radicals. Additionally, the Atelier Gardens host Das Hotel Bar for never-ending drinks, as well as different workshops by Roots Radicals, Michael Lück and ongoing interventions by The Office for the Use of Mistakes and Coincidences. “Talks from Atelier Gardens: Ingredients for Regenerative Cities” will take place at 7pm, with a keynote by Dr. J. Daniel Dahm (Scientist, World Future Council) and contributions by Jacob van Rijs (MVRDV), Harald Schindele and Markus Hirschmüller (HS Architekten), Marion Miketta, Jacob Fels (Tiny Farms) and Ayham Majid Agha (The Flying Stage).
The inaugural event will conclude with sets by DJ Obstsalat and DJ Zhao.
(text from taken from the exhibition/event website)