As part of the event series “An Exercise in Defending Democracy”, we’ve invited the artists’ collective “openplay“ to stage an intervention in the “Bauhaus Playroom” at the temporary bauhaus-archiv.

When was the last time you played? This was the question we first asked ourselves, then our friends in several workshops, then friends of friends and neighbours. We played together and began chatting. How does play influence our sense of community? What does a democratic society need? How can we playfully explore the bonds of social cohesion? And then we, as a museum, asked: What can a museum do to build a sense of community?

Our answer: We need meeting places where people can engage in conversation. And the Bauhaus-Archiv is an ideal venue for encounter and dialogue. Since it’s easier to talk with a lump of clay in your hand, visitors are invited to mould little figures which interact with one another.

Openplay

We’re Alex, Fee and Max, and we got together, asked questions and came up with playful answers.

Alex Elsner is a graphic designer and co-founder of the design agency büro bungalow. His design space is multifaceted, prioritising participative methods with, for and by people. His work ranges from interactive calendars and family exhibitions to a design union, which he is currently developing. His topics of interest include bursting bubbles, neighbourhoods and urban development.

Fee Wedepohl is the co-founder of “COMM: The Pop-Up Office for the Museum”. She also develops structures for greater outreach and participation at the non-profit investigative organisation CORRECTIV. Fee strongly believes that our society urgently needs more engagement, more in-person community involvement and, to this end, new forms of encounter. She loves experimenting with these forms and using these to get people to interact with one another.

Maximilian Wahlich works at the Bauhaus-Archiv as an associate curator and is involved in several exhibition projects. He writes exhibition reviews for online forums, such as ‘art-in-berlin’ and ‘Schirnmag’. Using playful methods and proactive approaches for dealing with mistakes, he aims to create new channels of access and creative solutions.

Community Playground. Say it with Clay!
11 December 2024, 10am – 6pm
11 December 2024, 10am – 6pm
13 December 2024, 10am – 9pm

the temporary bauhaus-archive
Knesebeckstr. 1
10623 Berlin