Bosch – visions alive in Berlin

There is never enough of art in Berlin! February being a month marked by great festivals like CTM, Transmediale and Berlinale. Additionally, terribly cold and gloomy weather prompts people to spend more time not only in clubs and cinemas, but also in galleries. At the same time, there are some interesting regular exhibitions happening: and actually there are two of them focusing on Hieronymus Bosch, whose works may be never lose its powerful symbolics and complexity of describing the metaphors of the world.

I’ll start with the installation of ‘Bosch – Visions Alive’ taking place in Alte Münze among other interesting venues of Spree Werkstatten. In the dark and spacious environment, you can contemplate a 30 minutes animation of the most remarkable paintings of Bosch. Together with my friend, we stayed there for over an hour, hypnotised! This brings me to the point that maybe it’s a digestible way of bringing art and its history in a more inclusive way – since the installation is engaging people from different backgrounds. This way, the message of it can have a bigger impact.

And last weekend I decided to visit the ongoing exhibition of Hieronymus Bosch drawings and works of his copyists in Gemäldegalerie. There is not too much of original works, but those available are actually showing the impressive concept art from centuries ago. Apart from that, I was very impressed by the collection in Gemäldegalerie: if European paintings from 14th till 18th century is something you’d like to explore, this is definitely a place to go to. I spent some 3 hours last Sunday there and I still felt I rushed through it. Among the collection you will find not only Bosch, but also Rubens, Valasquez, Botticelli, Rembrandt and Bruegel.

So even though I still have not managed to visit all the important museums and galleries of Berlin in 2,5 years of time I’ve been living here, I can recommend Gemäldegalerie to those who live and breathe classical art.

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Uncertain journey(s)

Life is a journey, and it would be very fair to say that even if I am not travelling physically, the need for discovery leads me to trying out different things almost everyday. I mostly spent my summer in Berlin working, which was a great ride itself, with short getaways within Europe I had no time to describe but needed so badly to change air and perspective. Not to mention the quantity of gigs and showcases I’ve been able to see.

Now the summer is over and I am heading to a very distant destination.

Inspired by the title of the exhibition I saw 2 weeks ago at Blain Southern Gallery in Berlin I am ready to travel to the country I have long dreamt to visit: Japan. This mind-blowing installation created by Chiharu Shiota is open until the end of November, so if you have a chance to visit it, I truly recommend it. Full of hidden meanings and symbolics, it reflects very well the fragile nature of emotional bounds related to travel.

I love the feeling of the unknown waiting for me, this time multiplicated by the fact that none of the languages I speak may become handy, but rather the open mind and empathy. Exactly a year ago, a good friend of mine boarded the plane to Japan to travel for a couple of months in Asia. I was happy to trace herself  while she was discovering beautiful places, spaces and faces. Now I find myself in this amazing state of mind, ready for the new adventures, albeit for much more limited period of time.

The hunger for travel is a state of mind. And so is Berlin – very often I start missing this city the moment I board the plane. I will be back soon and will focus on seeking for novelty in my everyday life. Till I book another trip…