Bard College Berlin News
Dr. Avi Feldman combines the study of art and law while exploring the region of Berlin-Wannsee in new course
Feldman, who is teaching at BCB for the first time, runs the art gallery Wannsee Contemporary. After living off-and-on in Berlin and eventually relocating permanently in 2020, he opened the gallery in 2021, the first of its kind in Wannsee. He says, “It is my hope that the gallery will contribute to making the Berlin art scene more diverse, while also reflecting on the role galleries have and can have in a post-COVID-19 world.”
Feldman comes from a background of both law and art curation, holding a PhD in Practice in Curating from the Department of Art at the University of Reading as well as a law degree and membership in the Israel Bar Association. “Art, law, and curation are continuously intertwined in the way I perceive art, and are informing and enriching my teaching at Bard as well,” he explains. “Questions relating to forensics, silence, freedom of speech, and evidence are an integral part of our discussions in class, thus positioning us on the seam of law and art.”
The course offers an interdisciplinary exploration of Wannsee, in which students address theoretical and archival materials to reflect on cultural and artistic movements. It will also explore recent works made in and about Wannsee by Berlin-based Israeli artist Yael Bartana, who is co-representing Germany at the upcoming Venice Biennale this April, in consultation with Shelley Harten, curator of the Jewish Museum Berlin. In addition, students will visit Wannsee and take part in field research with visits to Wannsee’s inter-religious cemetery, Glienicker Brücke, the Strandbad Wannsee, and Schwanenwerder island, once home to renowned Jewish art collectors and public figures who were displaced by Nazis such as Albert Speer and Joseph Goebbels.
A course focused on an area located on the opposite side of Berlin from BCB’s campus comes with a challenge: most students have not yet visited Wannsee. Rather than viewing this as a set-back to bringing Wannsee to life, Feldman says he is “taking it as a learning experience to our advantage.” He began the course with the vision of creating a laboratory for imagination, and he notes that the students are already bringing that vision into reality. “I hope and believe that by the end of the semester the students will advance their artistic, curatorial, and political imagination skills,” Feldman says. “They will be able to approach Berlin-Wannsee, or other geo-political landscapes, from a critical perception finding their own unique way to experimenting and experiencing it.”
While the students in Wannsee: Laboratory for the Future have the remainder of the semester waiting for them, Feldman has these words for anyone interested in Berlin-Wannsee and the Wannsee Contemporary gallery: “Come visit!”
By: Sophia Paudel, Bard College Berlin Communications
Post Date: 03-04-2024