In three tours through the exhibition ‘Courage. Sisters in Spirit’, at the Prater Gallery, its curators, Katharina von Hagenow and Susanne Weiß, provide insights into the exhibition’s curatorial concept and themes, discussing the works on display.
Dates
Wednesday, 14. October.
Wednesday, 11. November
Wednesday, 16. December
Start
6 PM
Admission free, no registration required.
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„Courage. Sisters in Spirit“ at the Galerie Prater
Featuring works by Yevgenia Belorusets, Christa Jeitner, Magdalena Jetelová, Lesia Pcholka, Luise Schröder, Gundula Schulze Eldowy, Natalia Vatsadze, Eva Vent
Curated by Katharina von Hagenow, Lena Prents and Susanne Weiß
Exhibition: September 4 – January 3, 2027
With the exhibition “Courage: Sisters in Spirit”, the municipal Prater Galerie is reopening its doors in Berlin’s Prater after extensive renovations. The inaugural exhibition looks back at the history of the Prater Galerie while also focusing on contemporary art from Eastern Europe.
“Courage” is a collaborative project with the ifa – Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations that focuses on the work and activities of the Center for Art Exhibitions of the GDR (ZfK). The municipal Prater Galerie has existed on Kastanienallee in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg for many decades, a few brief interruptions notwithstanding. The space was an important exhibition venue for contemporary art in East Berlin. The employees of the Centre for Art Exhibitions of the GDR (Zentrum für Kunstausstellungen der DDR or ZfK) and the artists operating the Galerie am Prater maintained a lively exchange. This was a place for seeing and discussing contemporary art, and works on view at the gallery were often selected and acquired for ZfK exhibitions. It comes as no surprise that the ZfK’s collection includes numerous works by artists who also held solo shows at the Galerie am Prater. Women’s voices were noticeably underrepresented – an asymmetry typical of the time. The exhibition Courage reverses this dynamic by showing artworks exclusively by women. In particular, these women artists critiqued the status quo and openly practiced resistance – and continue to do so – both in their private lives and in their art. Works by Eva Vent, Gundula Schulze Eldowy and Magdalena Jetelová from the ZfK and ifa collections are juxtaposed with contemporary works by their “sisters in spirit” from Eastern Europe.