AUSLÄNDER: Happy? Notes from a Berlin exhibition [unklar art review]

It’s Monday turning into Tuesday, and I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night — just like in the good old days. After almost 13 years of living in Berlin, I am still trying to write something meaningful for this city that I love.

Been postponing posting this since last Friday, because it’s such a delicate and also hardcore subject to touch on. Thought I was alone in this, but apparently not.

Last Friday, I saw AUSLÄNDER, an exhibition hosted and exposed by very warm people of all nationalities of this planet, including mine. Got invited there by a very talented Romanian artist — Roxana Ardeleanu — and ended up discovering just how many talents of all nationalities exist in this little cosmopolitan planet called Berlin.

From newcomers to old school — or the old guard of Berlin — they all showed the same thing: immense talent and potential wasted or attacked by the injustice, hate, or anger of some narrow minded people.

Please don’t get me wrong, though. As stated, I’ve been living in Deutschland for almost 13 Jahre, and this country has often been better to me than my own — the one that made me leave everything behind, after 33 years of living there. I have better German friends [most probably for life] than some of my Romanian ones.

At first, I was super happy to live in Berlin. I saw the goodness of it all, from nature to people, fun, and art. For example, I used to call the music of Berghain the stratosphere of accepting me as the weirdo that I am. Every bone in my body confirmed this — from the bouncers, who rarely rejected me [(it happens to the best of us :)], to the people from all over the world that I met there — and not only there, let’s be fair.

Dancing can give you a lot — from the reputation of being an idiot Romanian [even to your closest friends] to showing you the limits of it all. And of everyone.

Long story short, the first time I heard the word AUSLÄNDER was also about 13 Jahre vorher, in Alt-Mariendorf U-Bahn station, area where I used to live for some years, on my way to having some fun alone, as usual.

My German was nowhere near good, but I still understood what some teenagers, smiling full of hate, told me while they were smoking in the train station.

I’m a pretty empathetic person, and I felt not only their envy, but also their jealousy and dispise. Still, all of a sudden, I didn’t feel small anymore. I knew that they also needed to be accepted for who they were. Like all of us.

It is quite possible that now, in their 30s, they are different people. Or not? Time will tell.

This year, the feeling of being an IMIGRANT (if you are from the poor East) or an EXPAT (as the equally elegant West likes to call itself) reached a negative apogee felt by everyone — even in Berlin.

The city is still one of the most open-minded in the world, but the hate of the authorities, the manipulation of the masses, demonstrated by the recent huge rise of the right wing [all over Europe], is beginning to show more and more. [and not only for artists]

Just look at all the art exhibited at this event and ask yourself why so many artists — even big names that I know — living in Berlin are feeling enclosed by this barbed wire of hate, racism, and useless discrimination.

We are all humans, after all, trying to reach the stars, trying to evolve as happy souls.

Are we really going to let the interests of politicians, greed, money – and God knows what else – divide us? Hurt us? Change the way we feel EVEN about art?

Ask yourself why, and you will understand.

Many thanks to all the great people of all nationalities — Germans warmly included here — who made this exhibition happen.

Roxana Elena Ardeleanu

Life as an ever floating particle of cosmic dust [2021]

“A small painting I did a while ago, while dreaming about cosmic dust, and embodying other life forms“, said Roxana, in a very shy and modest way.

I could feel the warmth as soon as I entered the building in Neukölln, very close to the place where I was constantly visiting my friends and my ex.

But I could also feel the sadness of all the art exhibited. It was the sadness of all humankind gathered in one room.

The music popping out by itself, and the beautiful atmosphere made me go home smiling.

This is how we should all feel, as much as possible.

Go see the next Vernisage, taking place soon — and exhibit yourself, just the way you are.

Everyone is welcome.

Everyone is included.

Till then, I highly recommend visiting this one:

PS: to all the 100 artists involved – thank you for your tremendous work and resistance in the tranches of art. Please feel free to contact unklar.net, and sorry for not having enough energy for talking to each and every one of you.

Hosted over two weeks by @prachtsaal

@auslander.art curated by @stephan.vankuyk

With works by:

@akil.yyz @kultr.studio
@crocetti.nicolas
@madebypanth
@nastasya_kolhan
@alicebrunelloluise_ph
@littlebunnyfu
@prisnilsya.sonet
@sergei.shteiner
@alevtinaspears @dana.perrotti
@riverdavis.co
@melodygstudio @nicoli.art
@jana__jacob
@ledg_art
@artsy.shikhi
@satpaskas
@lavaartworks
@anna.vyshnevetska
@rubygrifffiths
@gairahpraskovia
@elizavetaschneiderartworks
@berlin.art.lab
@sk_artanddesigns
@yunownov
@eminmathers
@franzfez
@robkeller.art
@drishyakalaklima
@sleep_well_skeleton