This year, a new south façade of the Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin will welcome all university members and the people of Marzahn-Hellersdorf. Today, the university announced that a design by writer and Poetry Prize winner Maxi Obexer will replace Barbara Köhler's current work. The announcement was made as part of the public event "A public text: How do we design the south façade of the university?".
The university is thus following the decision of the Academic Senate in 2018, which stipulates that the wall design of the south façade of the university will be changed every five years by a new contribution from the circle of Poetry Prize winners. After Barbara Köhler, ASH Berlin awarded the Alice Salomon Poetics Prize to the artists Christoph Szalay (2019), Lioba Happel (2021) and Maxi Obexer (2023).
Christoph Szalay and Maxi Obexer took part in the process of redesigning the south façade. They presented their designs for the first time at an internal university event at the end of April 2024 and exchanged ideas with students, lecturers, staff and the Poetry Prize jury. The prizewinners took the feedback from this event into account when developing their proposal. The Poetry Prize jury met on May 30 and discussed the proposals by Christoph Szalay and Maxi Obexer. The text "von den dächern" by Maxi Obexer was chosen:
sie alle hier, wir
können es sein, bedroht
betroffen, berufen, sogleich
zu anderen werden
allein, wie sich finden
und nicht vergessen
dass wir liebende sind
wo ist das außen, wenn wir es suchen
wer ist das außen, wenn wir es lieben
The jury's statement reads: "As a result, we have decided in favor of Maxi Obexer's design. We consider it to be a successful intervention in public space that offers opportunities for communication and interaction. We see it as an engagement with the location and an awareness of the university's attitude, which is what we wanted."
Maxi Obexer says: "It was important to me to create a body of text in which there is no counterpart to another, in which the linguistic demarcation, however subtly set, is abolished, in which there is a 'we' without appropriating, or where the threatened and affected are not differentiated from the appointed per se."
Today's presentation of the future façade design was accompanied by a varied supporting program. First, Silke Meyer, a student at ASH Berlin, presented selected texts by Barbara Köhler in a performative reading. At the subsequent round table, ASH Rector Bettina Völter and ASH Professor Jutta Hartmann discussed Barbara Köhler's work and its significance for ASH Berlin with the art historian, curator and director of the Museum Morsbroich Jörg van den Berg and the author and Poetry Prize winner Maxi Obexer, as well as art in public space and the role Maxi Obexer plays here. The discussion was moderated by jury member, poet and co-founder of Lettrétage Tom Bresemann. After the discussion, Maxi Obexer presented the text for her façade design. At the end of the event, the guests inaugurated the new Barbara Köhler memorial plaque at the base of the façade. Barbara Köhler's poem and her commentary can be seen on the 1 x 1.4 meter stainless steel plaque. It was placed next to the plaque with the poem "avenidas" and an explanatory text by Eugen Gomringer.
About Poetry Prize winner Maxi Obexer
Writer Maxi Obexer expresses herself in various genres. Her most recently published radio play "Im Auge des Sturms" (WDR 2024) won several awards, including the Radio Play of the Month. The highly acclaimed radio essay "Über Tiere schreiben / Über Tiere sprechen" (DLF 2023) was recently followed by the novel "Unter Tieren" published by Weissbooks Verlag. The political author dealt with the topics of flight and migration very early on; her play and radio play "Illegale Helfer" (Illegal Helpers) was performed worldwide and received numerous awards. Obexer was nominated for the Bachmann Prize for her autobiographical novel "Europe's Longest Summer". In January 2023, Maxi Obexer received the Alice Salomon Poetry Prize. The jury was particularly impressed by the fact that Obexer's texts "do not bow to any pleasing stylistics. Rather, they reflect Obexer's unconventional suffering in the world, her anger and her commitment."
About the redesign of the south façade
Here you can find the wording of the Academic Senate's decision to redesign the south façade from January 23, 2018 and the university management's detailed justification for its proposal. In 2017, the tender for the (re)design of the south façade attracted a great deal of media attention and was the subject of controversial debate. For an overview, we have compiled the press articles on the façade as a collection of links at www.ash-berlin.eu/fassadendebatte.
The five-year cycle
The five-year cycle - if you include the Master's degree courses - roughly corresponds to the average duration of our students' studies. This means that - in addition to administrative staff, academic staff and lecturers at the university - most students will also be able to experience and discuss the process of deciding on a new wall design.
Right of proposal and participation
The prizewinners selected by the Poetry Prize jury have the opportunity to either jointly propose a wall design or submit their own proposals. All proposals will be presented to and discussed with ASH Berlin lecturers, administrative staff, academic staff and students as well as the Poetry Prize jury at an event open to the university. This event provides the opportunity to deepen the exchange between the prizewinners and the university public about the connection between the work and the Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin or about the significance of art and science and their respective independence.
The prizewinners themselves decide whether and to what extent they would like to use this forum (among other things) to present a finished work as a proposal for the façade or to develop their proposal further if necessary. It is conceivable, for example, that the wall design will be developed in a participatory manner and/or jointly by several award winners, that an artist will submit several proposals as alternatives or that a submitted proposal will be modified after the event. If, after five years, there are several proposals from prizewinners for the wall design, the Poetry Prize jury will select the proposal that will then be realized on the south façade.
By documenting the process and the respective realizations on the south façade, a history of the Poetry Prize can be written, which can also be told as part of a history of participatory processes at ASH Berlin. This strengthens the connection between the Poetry Prize and ASH Berlin and increases the identification of university members with the Alice Salomon Poetry Prize. The 5-year rhythm also enables the examination of the areas of tension: Continuity and change as well as university democracy and freedom of art to be dealt with constructively. This also includes a critical-productive and creative-learning approach to the art of its prizewinners. The self-image of the university is now characterized less by the respective work on the wall than by the exchange about it and the regular exchange of works by very different artists.
About the Alice Salomon Poetics Prize
Every two years, ASH Berlin awards the Alice Salomon Poetics Prize to artists who contribute to the further development of literary, visual and acoustic arts through their special formal language and diversity, while always working and acting in an interdisciplinary manner. The award comes with prize money of 6,000 euros, a lectureship and the opportunity to redesign the south façade of the university.
Image material
The press use of the photo by Maxi Obexer is free of charge with copyright notice on the image (Copyright: Nane Diehl). Please click here to download: Photo by Maxi Obexer
You can find the text "von den dächern" by Maxi Obexer as an image file here.
Contact:
Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin
University Communications Office
Christiane Schwausch | Susann Richert
hochschulkommunikation@ ash-berlin.eu