Exhibition of the Villa Aurora Art-Fellows 2023

Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V. present an exhibition of its art fellows at Haus Kunst Mitte - House for Contemporary Art in Berlin-Mitte: Janine Eggert, Nina Fischer & Maroan el Sani, Nieves de la Fuente, Paul Hutchinson, Annika Kahrs, Monika Orpik und Anke Völk.

The exhibition is curated by Curator: Dr. Anna Havemann, Artistic Director at Haus Kunst Mitte.

The Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House presents an exhibition of its last year's art fellows at Haus Kunst Mitte – House for Contemporary Art in Berlin-Mitte. Rooms with a View provides insight into the projects created in Los Angeles by the eight fellows and brings their artistic ideas and inspirations to Berlin. Each artist lived at Villa Aurora for three months in 2023, developing new artistic approaches and perspectives and raising questions about topics such as social issues, climate change, and exile. In the exhibition, the artists engage in a dialogue through their works and present their diverse perspectives on California – from everyday life on the West Coast to the multi-lane highway architecture, from views of the Pacific Ocean to the effects of climate change on the Salton Sea. The diverse impressions of the Villa Aurora fellows come together to form a prism, an artistic cartography of the multifaceted city of Los Angeles in California.

The Villa Aurora is an artist residency in Los Angeles. For more than 25 years, it has been a place of inspiration and artistic creation for fellows in the fields of film, literature, composition, and visual arts. Villa Aurora's mission is to promote cultural exchange between Germany and the United States and to contribute to an open society by engaging with issues such as migration and exile. This thematic focus originates in the history of the house: During the Nazi era, the writer Lion Feuchtwanger and the salonist Marta Feuchtwanger found refuge in the United States. In 1943, they purchased the Villa Aurora in Los Angeles, which soon became a meeting place for German-speaking exiles: their guests and visitors included Bertolt Brecht, Thomas Mann, and Alma Mahler-Werfel.

Today, Villa Aurora continues to be a meeting place for artists and a center of creative exchange. The focus is on the fellows, their artistic concepts, and their engagement with the dynamic U.S. culture and the unique Californian landscape.

Upcoming events:

July 10, 2024: Artist Talk

With:
Monika Orpik, Artist  
Marianne Heuwagen, VATMH Deputy Chairwoman

July 17, 2024: Screening & Artist Talk

With:
Annika Kahrs, Artist  
Michael Rosen, Music Curator and Concert Organizer

August 2, 2024: Artist Talk

With:
Paul Hutchinson, Artist
Sabine Scho, Photographing Poet

All upcoming events will be published shortly.

Jun 14 – August 2, 2024
Opening Hours: Wednesday through Sunday: 12 - 6 p.m.
Admission: Regular 8 Euro / Discount 5 Euro / Free admission until 18 years of age
Haus Kunst Mitte, Heidestraße 54, 10557 Berlin
More information