RIBBONS
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| free admission |
| Mechanical Arena in the Foyer |
| Part of: SPÄTI |
The big issues of war and peace often remain abstract. The strong media presence of crises and wars often makes many people even less willing to deal with these topics.
With her artistic practice, the artist Renee van Bavel knows how to appeal to people’s feelings and bring them back to thinking emotionally about war and peace and to focus on what unites them – the desire for peace.
For the past year, she has been collecting commemorative ribbons from all over the world and sewing them together to create a large, unifying and colorful work of art: “I am sewing and collecting while President Volodymyr Selenskyj is talking to Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, just two kilometers away from me, about new arms deliveries to Ukraine. I sew while Donald Trump comes to power. While the AfD becomes the second largest party in Germany. I sew while the Middle East burns. I am sewing to show what unites us at a time when so much divides us.”
May 8 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. At the same time, numerous armed conflicts and wars are taking place around the world. There are discussions about the reintroduction of compulsory military service and the danger of Russia attacking other countries.
In the Späti, the artist talks to Prof. Dr. Axel Drecoll, Director of the Brandenburg Memorials Foundation, about her time as Artist in Residence at the Sachsenhausen and Ravensbrück memorials, making connections and her commitment to peace.
From 16:30 the artist will be in the foyer sewing the commemorative ribbons.
Schedule
4:30 PM–6 PM:
Vira Pogurska is a musician and DJ from Kyiv, Ukraine, currently based in Berlin. Her musical journey began early on, when she toured Europe as part of the children’s choir of the National Folk Ensemble, eventually building a career as a multi-instrumentalist.
She is a professional saxophonist (alto and soprano), bandura player, composer of original music, and DJ. From 2008 until early 2022, she was a member of the Ukrainian show band Freedom Jazz. As part of this collective, Vira took part in numerous theater and dance performances, film and television projects worldwide. Freedom Jazz placed second in the Eurovision Song Contest Ukraine in 2019, performed as the studio band for Evening Kyiv (then hosted by current president Volodymyr Zelenskyy), and for Show #1, as well as the Italian TV show Tu Si Que Vales.
Today, Vira performs solo as a DJ, known for her eclectic and emotional style that blends genres and draws from a wide range of musical influences. Since 2023, she has been a resident DJ at the Berlin club Tresor and collaborates with other Berlin-based musicians and artists.
In her own music, Vira focuses on connecting ancient Ukrainian folklore with contemporary sounds, viewing it through the lens of the modern era and uncovering new meanings. She creates musical landscapes that transport listeners into a deeply mystical fairytale world, preserving and exploring identity and tradition through experimental expression.
4.30 PM – 6 PM Vira Pogurska (DJ-Set)
6 PM–7 PM: Talk, moderated by Jan Linders
Participants
In her work, the Berlin-based Dutch artist Renee van Bavel deals with the themes of peace, humanity, freedom and democracy. By using various art forms, she initiates ways to approach and experience these topics at a personal level, as is emphatically shown in her space-encompassing work of art THE MIRROR OF PEACE. The viewers see themselves reflected in full size and read a text saying: “This is what people living in peace look like.” It becomes instantly clear that a life lived in peace cannot be taken for granted, and that we must act consciously—every day—to preserve this peace.
Studied Modern and Contemporary History, Southeast European History, and Political Science at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich.
Received a Ph.D. in 2005 with the dissertation titled “Der Fiskus als Verfolger. Die steuerliche Diskriminierung der Juden in Bayern 1933–1945.”
From 2005 to 2018, research associate at the Institut für Zeitgeschichte München – Berlin.
From 2009 to 2018, head of the “Dokumentation Obersalzberg.”
Since June 1, 2018, Director of the Stiftung Brandenburgische Gedenkstätten and Head of the Gedenkstätte und des Museums Sachsenhausen.
Vira Pogurska is a musician and DJ from Kyiv, Ukraine, currently based in Berlin. Her musical journey began early on, when she toured Europe as part of the children’s choir of the National Folk Ensemble, eventually building a career as a multi-instrumentalist.
She is a professional saxophonist (alto and soprano), bandura player, composer of original music, and DJ. From 2008 until early 2022, she was a member of the Ukrainian show band Freedom Jazz. As part of this collective, Vira took part in numerous theater and dance performances, film and television projects worldwide. Freedom Jazz placed second in the Eurovision Song Contest Ukraine in 2019, performed as the studio band for Evening Kyiv (then hosted by current president Volodymyr Zelenskyy), and for Show #1, as well as the Italian TV show Tu Si Que Vales.
Today, Vira performs solo as a DJ, known for her eclectic and emotional style that blends genres and draws from a wide range of musical influences. Since 2023, she has been a resident DJ at the Berlin club Tresor and collaborates with other Berlin-based musicians and artists.
In her own music, Vira focuses on connecting ancient Ukrainian folklore with contemporary sounds, viewing it through the lens of the modern era and uncovering new meanings. She creates musical landscapes that transport listeners into a deeply mystical fairytale world, preserving and exploring identity and tradition through experimental expression.
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