12.05.2021
Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart
This May, the Nationalgalerie is continuing Rundgang 50Hertz, a collaboration with the transmission system operator 50 Hertz that seeks to support recent graduates from art universities, with the project going digital. From 300 applications, the jury selected 3 winners: Paula Àbalos, Elena Greta Falcini and Annabel Häfner.
Studying art during the lockdown – that’s the theme of this year’s Rundgang 50Hertz. What happens when nothing’s really happening and social life gets moved completely to the virtual realm? How can artists use this vacuum creatively, and what effect do the restrictive measures applied by governments have on artistic work? In recent months, with the closure of studios, workshops and universities, these questions have dramatically affected the lives of art students, providing the point of departure for Rundgang 50Hertz, for which the jury selected Paula Àbalos, Elena Greta Falcini and Annabel Häfner.
After three group exhibitions since 2017, this year’s Rundgang will be go online for the first time. After making a limited call for submissions, three winning artists were chosen. Featured on an online platform, the work of these three artists looks into the extent to which measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic have both structured and triggered new modes of artistic work. The dynamic project website functions as a communication platform, featuring films by the Berlin cameraman Alexander Gheorghiu about the work process of the three winners. Both the platform and the project publication go live on 12 May 2021 at: www.rundgang50hertz.de.
From 11 to 13 June 2021, the films that will be presented on the digital platform will also be shown at Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin in an architectural setting designed by Florian Stirnemann (raumlabor berlin), accessible to all museum-goers.
Curator Melanie Franke has reconceived the way Rundgang 50Hertz approaches digitisation, diversity and its key themes. Rundgang 50Hertz will carry on in this new form until the end of 2023. The callout for the next instalment will be made in July 2021 on www.rundgang50hertz.de .
Rundgang 50Hertz is a project to support up-and-coming young talent. It is based on a cooperation initiated in 2017 between the Nationalgalerie, presented in the Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin, and the transmission system operator 50Hertz to foster new directions and voices in contemporary art. The project supports graduates from art universities based in the regions covered by the company’s network. The collaboration is centred around artists who have recently completed their studies and are taking their first steps in their art careers. An annually rotating jury of industry experts selects up to three graduation projects that have been produced at art universities in Berlin, Hamburg and Leipzig. The winners receive the opportunity to show their work at Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin, and a catalogue is published on their projects.