[Reader-list] 6th Werkleitz Biennale Common Property / Allgemeingut, Halle (Saale), Germany, 1 to 5 September

[Christian Schult]

For immediate release:

PRESS RELEASE FOR THE 6TH WERKLEITZ BIENNALE (No. 5, 31.08.2004)



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1) Opening on 1 September 2004, 6 p.m.

2) On the theme of Common Property / Allgemeingut

3) Programme Highlights

4) Press Conference on 1 September 2004, 11 a.m.

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1) Opening on 1 September 2004, 6 p.m.
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The 6th Werkleitz Biennale Common Property / Allgemeingut opens on 1 
September at 6 p.m. at Volkspark, Halle (Saale), Germany. With more than 
170 participants from 30 countries the biennial is the biggest media art 
festival in the area of the former East Germany.

Apart from the exhibition with over 40 works, visitors can look forward 
to a comprehensive film and video programme as well as numerous 
workshops, lectures and panels around the issue of common property.

2) On the theme of Common Property / Allgemeingut
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The festival is centred around the claim that art, culture and 
information should be considered common property and should be treated 
accordingly.

Digitalisation and networking have enabled the free exchange of ideas, 
concepts and technologies. The utopia of a 'Network of Commons' is now 
within reach - but whether or not it will become a reality will depend 
on decisions made regarding intellectual property.

The 6th Werkleitz Biennale festival and the preceding 'Halle School of 
Common Property', will offer a general overview of existing initiatives 
and art projects concerned with this theme.

3) Programme Highlights
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Exhibition
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Sharmila Samant's (IN) mobile boutique is one of the works in the 
exhibition - she is mimicking the common practice of labelling 
mass-produced textiles as designer products, intending to question the 
market-economy system of monopoly and copyright. By marking pieces of 
clothing she has selected as artworks and selling them in exhibitions, 
she turns the system upside down.

Musician and composer Christian von Borries (DE) has produced an 
interactive audio play especially for the festival that explores issues 
of authorship rights and Creative Commons. During the course of the 
biennial, visitors' comments will be added to the play.

Thomas Saraceno's (AR) flying garden consists of helium-filled balloons 
inhabited by a number of resilient airplants which possess the ability 
to exist without any roots and can therefore grow in places where no 
other plants can survive. For Saraceno they symbolise the possibilities 
for plants, humans and animals to migrate beyond geo-political boundaries.

Film
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As part of the workshop series 'Halle School of Common Property', US 
American found-footage filmmaker Craig Baldwin has been hosting a 
seminar on Culture Jamming and Found Footage Film Editing. At the 
biennial he will also be presenting 'Sonic Outlaws', his by now classic 
film which makes the case for the abolition of copyright.

The documentary‚ 'The Yes Men' shows actions by the political activist 
group of the same name, who have managed to gain access to meetings of 
the WTO and others under false pretences and use creative means to 
subvert these events.

The 'Night of Crime' takes a closer look at diverse strategies of 
dissent, i.e. activities that question existing copyright law and 
position themselves against the commercialisation and privatisation of 
the media and public space.

Discussions
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Media theorist Volker Grassmuck will be discussing the consequences of 
the current copyright legislation with Elmar Huckow, Ministerial 
Director at the Federal Ministry of Justice.

Andreas Broeckmann will be joined by Pit Schultz, Rachel Baker and 
others in a debate about the impact of new media on the public sphere as 
a space for communication.

Architecture historian Simone Hein will be talking to Annegret Hahn 
(Thalia Theatre, Halle) about the different traditions of cultural 
identity in East and West Germany.

Music and Performances
------------------------
The programme includes Torsten Lauschmann's (UK) performance 'Filter'. 
Berlin's 'friends of pong' trace the history of music collectives such 
as MC5 and Amon Düül in an audio-visual presentation.

Bastard-Pop DJs Shapemod (Terranova) and Shir Khan from Berlin will be 
unashamedly mixing their way through all musical genres - on their 
bootlegs punk meets freestyle and Madonna is crossed with Harry Belafonte.

Also present are: god is a dj & tadpole, teer4.com, zapotek, Marlow and 
Karoline Körbel (moon harbour), DJ Slender Whiteman (UK), dj LN.

For the complete list of participants and other additional information 
on all artists please visit our website at 
http://www.werkleitz.de/common_property.


4) Press Conference on 1 September 2004, 11 a.m.
_______________________________________________________

The opening press conference will take place on 1 September at 11 a.m. 
at Volkspark.

It will be followed by a tour of the exhibition with biennial director 
Angelika Richter and curators Anja Casser, Martin Conrads, Ariane 
Müller, Karin Rebbert, Peter Spillmann, Florian Wüst and Peter Zorn, all 
of who will also be available for interviews or to answer questions 
after the tour.

Press Contact
Luc-Carolin Ziemann
phone: +49 345 68 24 617
mobile: +49 173 39 25 231
biennale04 at werkleitz.de



The 6th Werkleitz Biennale is funded by the German Federal Cultural 
Foundation, the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Stiftung Kulturfonds, Lotto-Toto 
GmbH of Saxony-Anhalt, the City of Halle (Saale), Mitteldeutsche 
Medienförderung, GmbH, Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design 
Halle, via medien GmbH, Mondriaan Stichting, Stadtwerke Halle GmbH, and 
the British Council, Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau and the Spanish Embassy.

6th Werkleitz Biennale Common Property / Allgemeingut
1 - 5 September 2004
http://www.werkleitz.de/common_property