Intro

In the context of the growing popularity of decolonial approaches across various disciplines, the critique of Eurocentrism is gaining momentum. Yet, an essential aspect often remains overlooked—the inherent diversity within the concept of “Europe” itself. Today’s map of Eurasia displays regions such as Western, Central, Northern, Eastern, and Southern Europe, but the boundaries and relations within this seemingly homogeneous space have always been fluid and complex.

Historically and politically, Eastern Europe has been subject to varying definitions and interpretations. For the purposes of this project, we adhere to the broad division established post-1945, where Europe was split into the "Western World" and the "Eastern Bloc." The division left lasting marks on cultural, political, and artistic landscapes, encapsulated by the unique experience of Berlin—a city symbolizing both separation and convergence.

Inspired by the enduring relevance of theorists like Slavoj Žižek, who described Eastern Europe as the West’s idealized Other, this project seeks to revisit and reactivate discussions on the intersections and divergences between the two Europes. Over the decades, cultural integration efforts following the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc have often been marked by a wave of Westomania. This imposed homogeneity overshadowed the nuanced and multifaceted visual cultures of Eastern Europe. The historian Karl Schlögel calls for constant critical self-reflection if we want to adequately understand the conflicts and thus the foreignness of the present. "The East is a kind of Pompeii", which should be excavated with great curiosity and zeal.

Through the Matrix-Ost project, we aim to recontextualize contemporary Eastern European visual art within this historic and political framework, fostering dialogue and reflection on the shared and distinct artistic experiences of Eastern and Western Europe.

"The self-evident nature of the intact discourse has finally been called into question."
- Karl Schlögel

Museum Kesselhaus Herzberge & Association

Our museum is a historic boiler house and European cultural heritage site on the grounds of the Königin Elisabeth Herzberge Hospital. The building is home to over 100 years of historical industrial technology, which supplied the psychiatric ward with heat and electricity. Today, it serves as a platform for deconstructivist thinking and innovative philosophies of life. Site-specific themes characterise our cultural programme, whereby we see ourselves as part of Eastern Europe, albeit a hybrid between the worlds in East Berlin. As a laboratory for diversity and a place of unsteady evolution, we want to be part of the ‘third landscape’. As a socio-cultural platform, we face a challenging future.

For artists looking for a site-specific approach, the Museum Kesselhaus offers an ideal framework for the joint creative process due to its own history in Herzberge and its institutional networking with the various players in the neighbourhood. The museum's work encompasses both classical methods and wild archaeology. The entire city, the social living space in Herzberge, and ultimately the thoughts, feelings and actions of each individual become potential archaeological excavation sites.

More images of the site www.museumkesselhaus.de/fotoband.html

Psychiatric hospital in the Herzberge Landscape Park

The psychiatric hospital Königin Elisabeth Herzberge is located in a small urban forest and 100-hectare nature reserve, surrounded by the industrial complexes and multi-lane motorways of Berlin-Lichtenberg. Founded in 1893 as the ‘Irrenanstat Herzberge’(Herzberge Lunatic Asylum), the institution has not only changed its name frequently over the last 130 years, but also its ideological and medical orientation. Originally opened in the spirit of progressive reforms, it fell into ‘dark times’ under National Socialism. After the Second World War, part of the facility became a municipal hospital of the GDR and another part a Protestant hospital, which was also financed by the political West.

Artists

INTRO