The artist Iwona Knorr and the artist Luger Orlok talk about uncertainties together with fishermen from the region - a storm talk at the end of the exhibition.
With the exhibition UNGEWISSHEITEN, the Neue Kunsthaus Ahrenshoop is setting an example for a new, sustainable culture of travel. Films, photographs and installations document personal and artistic experiences of slow travel. The exhibition was created in cooperation with Künstlerhaus Lukas and RIMI/IMIR SceneKunst in Stavanger, Norway, and is sponsored by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Berlin. The artists Ludger Orlok, Iwona Knorr and Mike Malajalian take visitors on impressive journeys of discovery that transcend the boundaries of the familiar and make the fascination of the unknown artistically tangible.
The exhibition sets new impulses for an environmentally conscious culture of traveling and exhibition making in the sense of Green Culture.
The exhibition UNGEWISSHEITEN at Neues Kunsthaus Ahrenshoop is part of a newly initiated environmental grant from Künstlerhaus Lukas and was created in collaboration with RIMI/IMIR SceneKunst in Stavanger/Norway and the Royal Norwegian Embassy.
The starting point of the exhibition is the idea of a sustainable art business: the participating artists have consciously opted for low-carbon travel in order to test new approaches to responsible cultural work and resource-saving cultural exchange. The project also aims to develop a "green culture" model that combines ecological awareness with cultural practice. In the context of this environmentally conscious practice, the topic of fishing on the Baltic Sea coast took on a particular urgency and became a central aspect of the exhibition.
With works by: Iwona Knorr, Ludger Orlok and Mike Malajanian from RIMI/IMIR SceneKunst, Stavanger/Norway.
The exhibition UNGEWISSHEITEN opens up artistic perspectives at the interface of ecological responsibility, social issues and aesthetic reflection:
Ludger Orlok traces the uncertainties of travel and the ambivalences of borders in his filmic and installation works. His slow, nomadic journeys - characterized by intuitive encounters and conscious walking - become the starting point for an exploration of connections and separations: in encounters with people, cities, villages and nature, between the familiar and the unfamiliar. With light and shadow images as well as acoustic elements, Orlok makes transitions and breaks tangible, exploring the tension between orientation and uncertainty. The presentation was supported by Stephan von Wedel. In her photographic works, Iwona Knorr focuses on the dramatic changes in the coastal fishing trade. Large-format photographs document the insecurities of fishermen as a professional challenge; a photo installation presented floating on fragile bamboo poles focuses on the existential threats. These works combine the social dimension of sustainability with the aesthetics of the fragile and ephemeral.
Mike Malajalian brings a psychological and documentary perspective to his successively growing filmic work. His work, which continues to develop during the exhibition period, reflects the slow, intense experience of travel and questions the relationship between time, space and identity in the confrontation with human fragility.
The exhibition UNGEWISSHEITEN invites visitors to explore the potential of uncertainty as an artistic space for thought. It reflects on the challenges of sustainable travel and cultural work and at the same time makes visible the social interdependencies and ruptures that are of existential importance for the coastal region. The collaboration with RIMI/IMIR SceneKunst in Stavanger combines artistic and ecological perspectives in order to test a new culture of travel and artistic exchange in the spirit of sustainability.
Iwona Knorr lives in Bonn and on the island of Rügen. The German studies graduate and MBA graduate has been working full-time as a photographic artist since 2009. In 2019, she was appointed to the renowned German Society for Photography (DGPh). She has been awarded several scholarships and prizes for her work, which deals with the (self-)understanding of home and identity, including the Rügen Cultural Foundation's sponsorship award in 2016. In 2018, she received a scholarship for curating at Künstlerhaus Lukas as a guest curator. Her works have been presented in numerous solo exhibitions in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, including in 2013 and 2021 at the Galerie des Landkreises Vorpommern-Rügen in Putbus and in 2014 as part of the environmental photography festival "Horizonte" in Zingst. She has also been part of international group exhibitions in countries such as Iceland, the USA, Finland, Australia and Italy. Her photo project about the coastal fishermen of Rügen received several international awards. Following the publication of her photo book Born to Fish in 2014, the text and image book Herring, Eel and Bycatch was published in 2021 and her photo book RUGIA in 2023.
Mike Malajalian is a Lebanese filmmaker and graphic designer whose work deals intensively with the human psyche and deep-rooted traumas. He holds a Master's degree in Cinema and Video from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan and a Master's degree in Graphic Design and Visual Communication from the Lebanese University of Fine Arts. His short films, including Reprisal (2017) - awarded Best Short Film at the Maskoon Fantastic Film Festival and screened at over 25 international film festivals such as SITGES and FrightFest - and SPASM (2022), explore narratives of fear. In addition to his work as a filmmaker, Mike has been involved in the organization of numerous film festivals in Lebanon and has worked at Abbout Productions in Beirut as production coordinator and art director since 2015. He currently lives in Stavanger, Norway, where he works as project manager for the Rimi/Imir Scene art project and is working on new film projects. A versatile artist, he is also known for film poster designs and is currently developing his first documentary film as well as a feature film debut.
Ludger Orlok initially trained as a gardener and studied medicine before gaining a diploma as a stage dancer at the Iwanson Center in Munich and winning various awards. He has worked as a dancer, choreographer and actor at several German theaters. In 2001, he was a visiting professor at the Korean National University of Arts in Seoul. Between 2000 and 2021, he held various management positions at Tanzfabrik Berlin. There he curated the stage program as well as international projects such as Cross Currents. In addition to his artistic work, he qualified in the field of psychology: in 2016 he completed a Bachelor's degree in Community Psychology, followed by a Master of Science in Clinical Psychology in 2023. Since 2022, he has been working on the performance and exhibition project SENSATION AS CONTACT, which pursues a process-oriented approach. His work focuses on memory and encounter processes as well as collaborative approaches in crisis contexts.
After completing his diploma, Stephan von Wedel worked as an assistant at opera houses in London, Zurich and New York. Since 1996 he has worked as a freelance stage and costume designer for drama, opera and dance, including at the Berliner Ensemble and Staatstheater Mainz. His most recent projects include works for the Staatsoper Berlin, the Staatstheater Braunschweig and the Schlosspark Theater Berlin. In the 2023/24 season, he is designing the sets for several operas and musicals.
With the generous support of the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Berlin and the kind support of the Ministry of Science, Culture, Federal and European Affairs of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the municipality of Ahrenshoop, the district of Vorpommern-Rügen and Sparkasse Vorpommern.
