The freedom of assembly forms the starting point of the group exhibition 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 Art. 8 GG Freedom of assembly, which will be on view from October 3, 2020 to March 28, 2021 inclusive in the Villa Schöningen.

The Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV, who commissioned the architect Ludwig Persius to design the Villa Schöningen, put in place a constitution in 1848 that legalized the political freedom of assembly. With these resolutions, he paved the way for our current constitution. Beyond the political gathering, there are many different characters of gathering. Be it in a sports club, at family celebrations, the art scene at the Venice Biennale or in the digital world. The location of Villa Schöningen, in the former border protection area, enables a very site-specific perspective on the exhibition theme on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the reunification. The potential for social conflict and the controversy of gathering are made particularly clear by the omnipresent corona pandemic.

The works presented by the 14 artists cover a period of around 50 years and address the facets of gatherings in very different ways.
So the painting that ends well, all is well by Jörg Immendorff from 1983 seems to be a premonition of German reunification. This historical event could have taken a different course without a physical gathering of people. The artist Anna Ehrenstein, on the other hand, addresses the anonymous digital gathering and its influence in her video work Real Thomas Metzinger 2019.

Press release Villa Schöningen