“What Matters” was the question andtatement of 2022 presentation of works by the JUNGE AKADEMIE, the interdisciplinary and international artist-in-residence programme of the Akademie der Künste. In an exhibition and a multifaceted programme including screenings, concerts and readings, 29 fellows from all of the Akademie’s art sections presented sound and video installations, photographs, sculptures, paintings and performances they developed during their studio residencies in the Hansaviertel in Berlin and at Villa Serpentara in Olevano, Italy.

“What Matters” is not to be understood as the title of a thematic exhibition but rather indicates the diversity of questions, perspectives and realities that are interlaced in an artist residency, while emphasising their urgency. The exhibition focused on the artists’ individual approaches that encompass a broad spectrum of themes: from questions about the transformation of societies and their expression in relation to the urban space and landscape, to interrelations between the individual and social systems such as state, religion and the economy, to reflections on body images and conceptions of history, personal archives and the intertwining of nature, technology and culture.

What matters is artistic testimony, poetic resistance and the imagining of sustainable futures in the face of global tipping points – whether climatic or political in nature. Two years into the pandemic and the associated restrictions, “What Matters” was the most comprehensive presentation of works to date by the JUNGE AKADEMIE.

To quote one of the fellows: “What matters? Make them see…”

Transstimme – A transhumanist Opera

Performance, Konzert

The background to the drama in Transstimme is formed by a transhumanist topos – the idea of being able to enhance our physical and cognitive capabilities to such a degree that this potentially leads to a transformation of the human condition. The voice plays the role of a virtual projection and metaphoric “home” for the fondest and purest form of love between two individuals. An unknown disease will cause the voice of “She” to fade away and their world to collapse. At the same time a futuristic form of surgical intervention will offer a healing but also an enhancing process that will turn into a sort of Faustian journey for Her and a Pygmalionian drift for Him. The resonance of the opera aims to summon open questions about how much we will be able to embrace similar major changes. These will likely happen to and affect our human condition, within our future civilisation. So what challenges might come along in the process of this transition?

Original story,musik and live Visuals: Fabià Santcovsky

Libretto: Anja Hilling

Sound Direction: Alexis Baskind

Soprano: Angela Postweiler