Per­fectly in tune with my recent move from Rot­ter­dam to Berlin* I can rec­om­mend the Bauhaus exhi­bi­tion in the Martin Gropius Bau (where else?) in Berlin. The exhi­bi­tion – the largest on Bauhaus in his­tory – will be open until 4th of Octo­ber 2009, and focuses on the period 1919 to 1933. It is refresh­ing and and over­whelm­ing to see this wealth of utopian ideas, espe­cially now.

From the press release:

“Wednesday, the 21 July, the exhi­bi­tion ‘Bauhaus. A Con­cep­tual Model’ opened in Berlin’s Martin Gropius Bau. On the occa­sion of the 90th anniver­sary of the foun­da­tion of the Bauhaus and 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall, the lead­ing Bauhaus research insti­tu­tions and muse­ums in Ger­many – the Bauhaus Archive Berlin, the Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau and the Klas­sik Stiftung Weimar – are for the first time jointly pre­sent­ing an exhi­bi­tion. With about 1,000 objects it will be the largest Bauhaus exhi­bi­tion ever. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, coop­er­at­ing part­ner in the project, sent 25 objects to Berlin and will present its own exhi­bi­tion ‘bauhaus 1919 – 1933. Work­shops for Moder­nity’ begin­ning on 8 Novem­ber in New York.

Sup­port­ing Pro­gramme for the Exhibition

A diverse pro­gramme of events will be offered to accom­pany ‘Bauhaus. A Con­cep­tual Model’. It includes a five-​day inter­na­tional con­fer­ence ‘bauhaus global’ (21 – 26 Sep­tem­ber 2009) sup­ported by the Stiftung Lotto/ Stiftung Deutsche Klassen­lot­terie Berlin, as well as a lec­ture series, cinema nights, work­shops, archi­tec­ture tours and book pre­sen­ta­tions (see overview of sup­port­ing events). Public tours are offered on Sat­ur­days and Sun­days at 12:00 and 2:00 pm.

The exhi­bi­tion is sup­ported by the German Fed­eral Cul­tural Foun­da­tion. The pri­mary sup­port­ers are HOCHTIEF and the Sparkassen-​Kulturfond des Deutschen Sparkassen- und Girover­bands. The Stiftung Deutsche Klassen­lot­terie Berlin and the ART MENTOR FOUN­DA­TION LUCERNE are spon­sors of the exhi­bi­tion. Media part­ners are the Radio Berlin-​Brandenburg (rbb), the news­pa­pers DIE WELT, and the Berliner Mor­gen­post, and the Wall AG. The instal­la­tion in the Lichthof was gen­er­ously sup­ported by Eter­nit AG and Thonet GmbH.”

*we still have our man Martin in Rot­ter­dam, though!