Euro Kunsthalle Review. Kiel, Germany: art in the aftermath of WWII.

In the third post in the Euro series, I will be doing a review of the cultural scene in Northern Germany and focussing on the city of Kiel. I will review the city by discussing my observations of the maritime city, with a focus on Kiel's one Kunsthalle (Art Gallery), its luscious gardens, (the botanical gardens and the public spaces) and the architecture of city.

In the aftermath of the second world war, Kiel and much of Northern Germany had to rebuild itself from the ashes because of the concentration of the bombing on naval bases. It is apparent from the architecture that most of the buildings were built within the past century. There is only one art gallery which can be seen above.

The city is beautiful not because of its architecture but because of its nature and its proximity to the sea. The art gallery has a permanent collection but mainly has a focus on contemporary art. Like the rest of the city, it is relatively modern with a future facing outlook rather than historical which is actually a positive. The art is not so aristocratic and exclusionary. The criteria for an appreciator of the kunsthalle seemed to be education.

The two exhibitions that were showing when I was there in June 2015 was an exhibition called CAUboys and an installation exhibition called Playing Future.

(above) one of the world clocks from the Playing Future exhibit that showed different time zones of different cities according to different descriptive adjectives.

CAUBoys (above) was an exhibition named after the main university of the city: Christian Alberchts Universitat (University of Kiel). It showed artworks by professors and fellows of the university perpetuating the notion of artist as public intellectual. Carol Becker wrote in her article entitled "The Artist As Public Intellectual" about how society often in the past dictated to artists what was created. However, she highlights, artists have the power to influence and educate through the mediumof art. More than ever artists who want to be professional are in need of expensive education like in every other profession. Art goes in hand with education. As Becker aptly puts it "there is... the image of the artist as bohemian, somewhat irresponsible, less adult, immersed in the pleasure principle,who at times makes something truly extraordinary and at times fools the general public with work that passes for art... But we do not have in our collective conciousness, or probably unconciousness as well, images of artists as socially concerned citizensof the world,people who could help determine, through insight and wisdom, the correct political course for us to embark on as a nation". The Kunsthalle zu Kiel is progressive and forward facing in that it upplifts the general persona of an artist as educated standard makers in that society.

Another part of the cultural experience in the German city of Kiel was the outdoor gardens. There were two botanical gardens in the city centre and many public green space with manicured gardens and flower beds. Is a garden considered a cultural experience? Some surveys have found that people do in fact consider going to a public garden a cultural experience. Botanical gardens and National Parks and Zoos and Aquariums teach you about the terrain and the climate of the culture of not only that area but many different terrains and eco-systems around the world. This is just as much a shaping factor of culture as art and is a great way to explore without actually venturing into the wild.

Kiel is a beautiful city and visiting the gardens and exploring the terrain were great cultural experiences.