API in Dortmund

27/07/2010

Steel Mill HMKV Phoenix Halle: Photo Shiraz Ksaiba

After the hell of Luton Airport we (Jo, Gillean and I deicide not to travel from there again....until the next time which for me is on Friday). Arriving in Dortmund we were greeted by Nadine and driven around the city in the lovely evening sunlight. We got to the HMKV exhibition space at Phoenix Halle and were blown away by the size and industrial look of it, the sun setting behind the old steel works.

The building itself is an old steel works spare parts unit, the whole place a mass of space. London has some big spaces but I wasn't used to the scale and size of this. Once in we were in the building we where confronted with the size and scale of the actual show, Marko Peljhan and Matthew Biederman and the HMKV team had been working on this for a long time and wow it showed. The space was very busy with a lot of people still working and I had a feeling that they may be carrying on into the small hours. And so we called it a night and went to Hotel Unique and that it was .. Kitsch doesn't quite cut it.

In the morning Jo and Nicola went to the exhibition’s press launch and Gillean and I had some time to explore the city. The place was buzzing with excitement of that afternoon’s World Cup match. Next to the Hotel was the U Building, which is still in being renovated but (just) accessible. Again, here in another huge space, HMKV were holding another two exhibitions. most striking was Agents and Provocateurs - research-based art about forms of confrontation and dissenting artistic attitudes. Also Building Memory – four films about architecture, monuments and community

After the football we headed back HMKV Phoenix Hall for the main event. The show looked stunning. From the incredible throat singing in the entrance installation, setting the scene, to the towering images, reconstructions, films, soundtracks, architectural models and bell tent in the main space.

We were made very welcome by HMKV and it was good to see how the other part of the show came together as there were so many more elements than the Canada House show. I could really understand why Marko and Matthew where so passionate about The North and the peoples who live there.

Shiraz Ksaiba, Administrator