At Haus der Kulturen der Welt the autumn season of 2011 belongs to Ulrike Ottinger.

FLOATING FOOD - Ulrike Ottinger
Exhibition – Film – Talks
8 September–30 October 2011

Opening:
7 September, 7 p.m.

UNTER SCHNEE (Under Snow)
World Premiere
9 September, 8 p.m.

Haus der Kulturen der Welt
John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10
10557 Berlin, Germany

www.hkw.de

At Haus der Kulturen der Welt the autumn season of 2011 belongs to Ulrike Ottinger. The renowned filmmaker, photographer, and collector of images and texts from around the world displays various aspects of her creation in a huge collage.

Water, the central motif of the exhibition, is considered by Ottinger as more than simply a representation of a theme. Rather, water embodies a principle of thought, of life and of work. Bernd M. Scherer, director of the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, wrote that as a traveller Ottinger thinks of water in terms of movement, as in voyages to other cultures.

There is hardly another artist in Germany who is such a kindred spirit of the Haus der Kulturen der Welt as Ulrike Ottinger. In her works that she never purports to depict the world the way it is but rather how she sees it. To do this, she accepts objects as they are and trusts their charisma. When she observes an object, she approaches it not with an open mind, but with a past in mind.

The exhibition FLOATING FOOD forms an artistic arc spanning real and fictitious worlds along waterways from antiquity to modernity. Ethnological objects and visionary texts, cinematic and photographic tableaux from nearly 40 years of her creative process merge to form a spatial and spacious installation that stretches throughout the entire Haus der Kulturen der Welt. Allegorical installations project landscapes full of sensuality, populated by mythical creatures and figures from Ottinger's unique universe.

The film UNTER SCHNEE (Under Snow) takes the viewer to a Japan of the past and present: in the northern province of Echigo, meter-high snow often remains well into the month of May, covering entire villages as well as the countryside. Over centuries, the inhabitants have grown accustomed to it. In order to record their ancient rituals, which keep them occupied during the winter, Ottinger, accompanied by two Kabuki actors, immersed herself in this mystical land of snow. Posing as creatures from the Edo period, they travelled back though time, repeatedly encountering the present.

Ulrike Ottinger was born in Constance and has earned an international reputation, specifically for her films. From 1962 to 1968, she lived and worked in Paris as a freelance artist, exhibiting, for example, in the Salon de la Jeune Peinture, and studying art history, religious science, and ethnology at the Sorbonne under the tutorship of Claude Lévi-Strauss, Louis Althusser and Pierre Bourdieu. From the very beginning of her artistic career, Ottinger also devoted herself to photography. Her works have been displayed at major art exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale (1980), documenta (1997/2002) and the Berlin Biennale (2004/2010). She has also had individual exhibitions and retrospectives at various institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York (2000), the Centre Pompidou (2010), the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid (2004), and the Filmmuseum Berlin. In January 2010, Ulrike Ottinger was presented with the Order of Merit from the Federal Republic of Germany and she has been awarded with the Hannah-Höch-Prize in 2011. Ottinger lives and works in Berlin.

Ulrike Ottinger's exhibition FLOATING FOOD and her film UNTER SCHNEE (Under Snow) are the main projects of the Haus der Kulturen der Welt for the 8th Asia-Pacific Weeks 2011.


FLOATING FOOD
Exhibition – Film – Talks
8 September–30 October 2011
A project of the Haus der Kulturen der Welt within the framework of the 8th Asia-Pacific Weeks 2011
in collaboration with the Ethnologisches Museum – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz supported by Capital Culture Fonds Berlin.

UNTER SCHNEE (Under Snow)
108', 35 mm, Dolby SR, Color, German and English version
Cinema Release 15 September 2011
A production of Ulrike Ottinger co-produced with ma.ja.de; funded by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, BKM, DFFF, Japan Foundation; supported by Bayerischer Rundfunk / Hörspiel und Medienkunst, Haus der Kulturen der Welt. The world premiere contributes to '150 Jahre Freundschaft Deutschland-Japan 2011' in the framework of the 8th Asia-Pacific Weeks 2011

Further information on our website: www.hkw.de/floating_food
Press photos ready to download: www.hkw.de/pressefotos


The Haus der Kulturen der Welt is responsible for the cultural program of the 8th Asia-Pacific Weeks Berlin 2011 and coordinates its projects. The Asia-Pacific Weeks are supported by the German Lottery Foundation Berlin.

The Haus der Kulturen der Welt is supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media on the basis of a resolution adopted by the German Parliament as well as by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Further programs dedicated to Ulrike Ottinger in Berlin until January 2012

Arsenal - Institut für Film und Videokunst
Film Series and Talks
Ulrike Ottinger
18.09.11 – 22.01.12
www.arsenal-berlin.de

Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.)
HANNAH-HÖCH-PRIZE 2011
Exhibition Ulrike Ottinger
26.11.11–22.01.12
Opening: 25.11.2011 | 7 p.m.
www.nbk.org

Contact:
Anne Maier
Press Officer
Haus der Kulturen der Welt
+49 (0)30 39787 153
anne.maier@hkw.de



Photo: Unter Schnee, 2011, photography.
© Ulrike Ottinger.