We flew from Corfu to Berlin, then by ice-train to Kassel to see the five yearly art show "Documenta". It is very relaxing traveling by fast train in Europe that run precisely to time. We are staying at a quiet modern hotel for this regional town, "Golden Tulip Reiss" hotel.
Friday, we set off to the first art venue at the central railway station, near the hotel. Luckily, Charlotte days and Sima Familant briefed us on which artists we should see. Although we have tickets there is a long line to collect iPhones for a walking art tour by artist Janet Cardiff.
This is a video production walking around the station discussing memories, including those of the jewish people leaving platform 13 from this very station to go to concentration camps. It also tests many other emotions with its visual and aural displays. This turns out to be a highlight of the whole show and we enjoyed it very much. Also at the station was Simryn Gill, an Australian artist we have collected and who was recently purchased by Moma. Other outstanding artists nearby was Willliam Kentridge and Clemens von Vedemeyer. For lunch we have German sausage in tomato sauce, a very different cuisine than that we have enjoyed in the last few months. We next went to 'Freidrichsplatz' the main art museum in the city. There is some very good art but the stand out was a tapestry that appeared at first to be a photograph, by Goshka Macuga. This work took up the entirety of a large wall, and was very monumental. Our next visit is to the modern museum where two Australian artists are on show. Stuart Ringholt and Gordon Bennett, both of whom we have collected.
Kassel is not a very sophisticated city, our choice of restaurant is not great but is recommended as the best. We are booked at the Italian 'Il Convento", which is fully booked and busy. The wine is good, the steak from Ireland and very good. We make friends with the waiter who is originally from Turkey.
Saturday, we decide to leave Kassel early and spend more time in Berlin. We arrive at a very new central station by ice-train, by mid afternoon. Matthias Arndt has suggested at hotel 'De Rome', right in the middle of this beautiful city. JB was here in 1982 when the city was still divided by the wall and she and her friends passed through checkpoint charlie. MB was here about 15 years ago when the wall had come down and the huge building construction was underway. It is now back to being one of the most sophisticated cities in the world. We take a river cruise tour, which is not very exciting, but we do learn something of it's history. The shops are sophisticated and especially a very beautiful 3 story book shop we spend time in. We enjoy a great meal in a stunning riverside restaurant. We are seated next to two young Berlin girls who are very friendly. They tell us that seated behind us is a famous German actor from 'Inglorious b******s', also to our right is a famous Berlin film director. A great meal and fun with our two Berlin girlfriends.
Sunday, we go to mass at the Cathedral next to our Hotel. This is a beautiful service with a full german choir.
We take a taxi to visit the art gallery of Matthias Arndt, who we met at Christmas time at Portsea. He had a very good exhibition of an Indonesian artist Entang Wiharso and also Heinz Mack. The gallery is situated in an area that has become an strong contemporary art precinct. We then visit the 'Pergamon Museum'. There is a large que waiting to buy tickets but it is worth the wait. We start with a tour of the recently installed Panorama building featuring a very realistic picture of what Pergamon was like at its peak in the first century A.D.
This museum is no doubt one of the best in the world. Displaying extraordinary archaeological finds from the middle and near east, dating back to 5 thousand B.C. This is monumental and includes the ceramic gates of Babylon, several important Assyrian and Hittite city architectural features, and features from Pergamon itself. Pergamon is currently on the west turkish coast. We have an audio tour which is very detailed and takes several hours.
Next stop is the Hamburger Bahnhoff museum, supposed to be the home of contemporary art. We unfortunately have a bad experience with the ticket seller who does not speak English. After the mix up JB returns to the hotel as she refuses to que up again. MB stays with his ticket but is disappointed as the permanent collection is the same as it was 15 years ago, and the temporary current exhibition is not very exciting. Maybe we are tired after all our travels, so MB has a therapeutic massage and we rest. We have a very good dinner at our hotel. We pack and get ready for our early start to Montenegro by air.