Juergen Teller

25.10.-30.11.1997 im shift-Salon

Juergen Teller

"The hidden Brecht, a Berlin city tour"

A Brecht publication of a different kind for Brecht`s 100th birthday (oder centenary)

Photography, Juergen Teller (London), Text Michael Rutschky (Berlin), editors Inge Gellert and Klara Wallner for the Literature Forum in the Brecht House Berlin, Scalo Press/ od. publishers (Berlin/New York/Zürich), German and English version Press conference 22nd October 1997, 11:00a.m. Slide show and reading 24th October 1997, 18:00 Location of both events The Literatur Forum in the Brecht House, Chausseestraße 125, 10115 Berlin-Mitte Exhibition preview 22nd October 1997, 12:00 Exhibition opening 24th October 1997, 12:00 Location of both events The Kunstverein shift (at shift-salon) Friedrichstraße 122/123, 10117 Berlin-Mitte Duration of exhibition 25th October - 31 November 1997 "The hidden Brecht. A Berlin city tour" is a photographic and essayistic cultural guide, which leads the reader through the city of Berlin. Detailed indexes of places and photographs, fold-out maps for walks, bicycle routes, U-Bahn and S-Bahn and a Berlin city map will allow the reader to experience Brecht´s Berlin first hand. Many places in Berlin, where Brecht lived and worked, are documented through text and photography. Michael Rutschky´s text spans the entire book and provides Juergen Teller´s photographs. Through the text and the commentary on photoghraphs, the book reveals the relationship between Brecht and the Berlin of the past and present. In this way the book makes possible the discovery of Brechtian spaces and the endurance or chances in the artistic and cultural spaces of the city. This book should inspire the reader to take the "walk" through the various stations of Brecht´s life, in order to discover not only the architectural characteristics of his environs but also to experience the dimension of these spaces. The reader and wanderer will in this way discover not only the "known" but also the "hidden". En passant, the walks reveal the existential parallels and the sense of Zeitgeist that connects the past and the present of Brecht´s cafes, restaurants and cultural institutions. "The hidden Brecht. A Berlin city tour" works on three levels: Through the detailed appendix (numerous maps and place markings) the book acts as a city guide; through the significant photographic contribution by the internationally renowned photographer Juergen Teller, the edition serves as an art publication; and the text written by Michael Rutschky , who was awarded the Heinrich Mann Prize by the Academy of the Arts, 1997, this stands as a literary work. The topographer Rutschky, with his terse and pointed turns of phrase, and the young photographer Teller, with his pure and direct aesthetic, have together produced a single book, which presents Berlin as it once was and what it has become. "The hidden Brecht. "A Berlin city tour" will be introduced through a slide show with the photographs by Juergen Teller and a reading by Michael Rutschky and also through a large scale exhibition of Juergen Teller´s photographs - his first solo show in Germany - at the art organisation shift in Berlin-Mitte. The exhibition will run parallel to the second International art fair in Berlin "art forum Berlin" (October/November 1997). If you wish further information about the book and the exhibition, please contact the curator Klara Wallner, Tel (++49 30) 322 86 70, Fax 325 77 01.