ARTE Film Premiere of “Pergamon in Gips” on 5 September 2019

20.08.2019
James-Simon-Galerie

The film premiere of the ARTE documentary Pergamon in Gips will be screened on 5 September 2019 at 7 pm in the James-Simon-Galerie. Marking the 200th anniversary of the Gipsformerei (Replica Workshop) and a related exhibition Near Life, this is the first documentary to portray the work of the art replica manufactory, specialising in plaster casts. The artisans in the Replica Workshop are observed at work, practising this now rare, traditional skilled craft. The film also provides insights into the Replica Workshop’s extensive collection of more than 7,000 historical plaster casts.

Film Premiere and Discussion

Pergamon in Gips celebrates its premiere in the auditorium of the James-Simon-Galerie on 5 September at 7 pm. The film screening will be followed by a discussion with Grit Lederer and Miguel Helfrich (head of the Gipsformerei), moderated by Mechtild Lehning (Radio Bremen). Admission is free, but advance registration is required: Register for the film premiere here.

The documentary airs on ARTE on Sunday, 15 September 2019 at 3:30 pm. After the broadcast, the film is available for viewing via the ARTE Mediathek until 15 October 2019.

The exhibition: Near Life.

Near Life is the first comprehensive presentation of the Gipsformerei holdings. As the world’s largest manufactory of its kind that is still operational today, the Gipsformerei boasts a collection comprising several thousand master models, moulds and painting models. The exhibition seeks to put on display a representative cross-section of these holdings and complements it both with items from other collections of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and outstanding objects on loan from Germany and abroad. A key role is accorded to contemporary art: it is uniquely suited to show how casts emancipated themselves from the subservient status of technical aids to works of art in their own right.