Astrid Hiemer
Bio:
A cultural critic and writer, Astrid grew up after WW II in Hamburg, Germany, and emigrated to the United States in the 1960s. She was formerly the assistant director (Administrative Officer) of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT under Otto Piene, with whom she has worked in the past several years editing, translating, and researching for a major book about his life and career. While at The Center she knew and worked with many multi-media artists. In addition to professional work as an editor and translator she is also a poet, and writer of fiction. Most of her written work is accompanied by her own photographs.
Recent Articles:
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Berliner Festspiele: 58th Theatertreffen Front Page
2021 Theatre Festival in Berlin
By: - May 30th, 2021Berlin’s cultural life is slowly awakening. One of the early highlights of this development was the 58th Theatertreffen (theatre festival) of the Berliner Festspiele from May 13 to May 24.
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Berlinale 2021 Front Page
A Virtual Berlin Film Festival
By: - Mar 08th, 2021The winners of the Virtual Berlinale, 2021, have received their Golden and Silver Bears and will return to Berlin in June for the award ceremonies and, so the world hopes, for a public viewing of their films.
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An Interactive Selfie Project, 2021 Front Page
And a Short History of Selfies
By: - Jan 21st, 2021There was an email invitation recently for a Zoom workshop in the UK, where one could learn how to draw a self-portrait or, as it was advertised: 'Learn how to draw a selfie...' Our Interactive Selfie Project, 2021, has wonderfully spoken to very many participants. There are now 130 selfies or almost selfies, as I called it, concluding phase 3. And, in fact, the project may yet continue.... -- Also, please read the article. Many, who have taken part, also contributed thoughtful messages.
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5th EIBAB Book Art Biennial, 2020 Front Page
And a Short History of Artists Books
By: - Nov 06th, 2020The Book as Art throughout the Centuries has led to a resurgence of artists creating Book Art in the time of eBooks. As an artistic discipline it has only been 70 years since its acceptance. The 5th European International Book Art Exhibition, 2020, celebrated the art form in the Karolyi Castle of Carei, Romania.
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B3 2020, Hello Truths, Frankfurt/Germany Front Page
And Silo Solos, Boston, MA
By: - Oct 07th, 2020The 2020 B3 Biennial in Frankfurt/Germany will open with 'Hello Truths, Extravaganza Virtuale' on October 9 in the US East Coast time zone @ 4 pm and in Frankfurt/Main @ 10 pm. The festival will be concluded after ten days on October 18. More than 100 artists from 23 countries will participate in an array of virtual events.
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Airborne Transmission Front Page
Prayer Flags for the Pandemic
By: - Sep 30th, 2020Suzette Martin's project of 200 'prayer flags' has been installed at the River Street Park in North Adams, MA, behind MASS MoCA. They have been fastened along a fence at 6' apart. A proto-project, also titled 'Airborne Transmission' of then 19 flags can still be seen on the grounds of the Eclipse Mill in North Adams. These 'flags' have been there since August. The new installation is impressive and will have a much larger impact, by reminding us that the entire Nation is still reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic, now with more than 200,000 deaths in the USA. Please read below.
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Eclipse Mill Artists, North Adams, Ma. 2020 Front Page
Projects during COVID-19: Impromptu and Airborne Transmission
By: - Aug 11th, 2020Artists everywhere are communicating and presenting work virtually that was conceived and created or executed this year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Life and art had mostly moved from our physical to our virtual world. Artists at the Eclipse Mill have done the same. Here we present three projects, two 'real' and one online, just a slice of artistic work that's being created in 40 studios. 'IMPROMPTU' has become a virtual exhibition on August 15 and 'Airborne Transmission' has been installed as described below.
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Corona Cookbook: Spicy African Peanut Delight Front Page
In Memory of Anthony Bourdain
By: - May 17th, 2020We had just watched Anthony Bourdain’s series, A Cook's Tour, while he visited Morocco: Casablanca, Fez, and finally the last town before reaching the desert, the Sahara. His meals there reminded us of the soup or stew that you are about to prepare – it’s most delicious!
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Corona Cook Book: Hungarian Goulash Front Page
Ungarisches Gulasch
By: - May 10th, 2020'How about Hungarian Goulash?' - he asked: 'Yes, that's a very good idea!' Hungarian Goulash is a German National dish and, of course, in Eastern European countries* as well. I grew up eating 'Ungarisches Gulasch' with boiled potatoes and green beans, perhaps, or another vegetable and a side salad. (Was it really first prepared in Hungary and when? Just as the Hamburger was coined by Americans. 'I am a Hamburger,' my cousin told an American. 'You are eating burgers!')
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Film: The 70th Berlinale 2020 Front Page
From February 20 - March 1
By: - Mar 04th, 2020The 70th Berlinale, the huge international film festival in Berlin took place between February 20th and March 1st, 2020. Great expectations were put upon the new festival leaders, Carlo Chatrian (artistic director) and Mariette Rissenbeek (executive director).
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One Evening:Two Works at Komische Oper, Berlin Front Page
J. Weinberger and G. Verdi
By: - Feb 15th, 2020It is always a time for heightened expectations when one goes to any performance at the Komische Oper, Berlin. It will not necessarily be enjoyable for everybody but it will definitely always be provocative. The Komische Oper presents as one performance: Fruehlingsstuerme and La Traviata.
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WHEN, show at MASS MoCA Front Page
By Ledelle Moe
By: - Jan 25th, 2020WHEN: Not if, but when all our lives come to an end. - Here we are searching for personal meaning and memories via a monumental sculpture exhibition that expresses obliquely life and death issues of today and since Millennia.
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Gauthier Dance Company at 2020 Berliner Festspiele Front Page
Stuttgarter Company Performed January 15-19
By: - Jan 20th, 2020Berliner Festspiele invited this young company, Gauthier Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart, to dance for five exciting days and to great success. For the rest of the year they will travel and perform internationally, including at Jacob's Pillow, in Becket, Massachusetts, the week of July 13. The Pillow invites yearly for their three months long summer festival dance companies from around the world.
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Derren Brown - Secret Front Page
Cort Theatre, Broadway
By: - Nov 08th, 2019The Master Illusionist, Derren Brown, currently excites audiences at the Cort Theatre on Broadway with his extra ordinary performance in SECRET. He and his show have been imported from London's West End and promise sold out performances for a very long time. Who would not like to be thoroughly entertained and perplexed at still reasonable Broadway prices?
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Tanz im August 2019, Berlin Front Page
Produced by HAU, 9 - 31 August
By: - Aug 31st, 2019Eagerly awaited, but somewhat disappointing, could be the short assessment of the 31st International Dance Festival 'Tanz im August' in Berlin, a performance marathon. The sold out festival drew18,000 visitors. This is a must read for all dance enthusiasts!
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Martha Graham Dance Company Word
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National Black Theatre Festival, 2019 Front Page
Winston-Salem, North Carolina,7/29-8/3
By: - Aug 12th, 2019It was our first visit and participation at the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. During the four days we experienced eight performances. The Festival attracts thousands of visitors every other year. It was a complex production, where a series of buses would transport audiences to a many theater and auditoriums all over two towns. The Marriott Hotel in downtown Winston served as the focal point and it was buzzing!
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Balamouk Word
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Theatre Festival, Berlin Front Page
May 5 - May 20, Berliner Festspiele
By: - May 25th, 2019Two weeks of theatre mania, the Theatre Festival, came to an end on May 20. Selected productions from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland could be experienced on several Berlin stages. Serious and timeless human struggles and subjects took center stage.
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A Cultural Trip Through Canada Front Page
Encountering First Nations Artworks
By: - May 23rd, 2019On the spot, fully packed and ready to travel, we decided on a car trip to Canadian locations: Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Niagara Falls, after we were denied boarding an airplane to Chicago. Our final destination was (not) to be Edinburgh, Scotland and London, England. Here's a cultural overview of our ersatz-trip, which turned out to be just great!
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Die Komische Oper Berlin, Germany Front Page
Poro and M-eine Stadt sucht einen Moerder
By: - May 13th, 2019At the end of the 2018/19 season the Komische Oper Berlin produced two more operas: 'Poro,' by Georg Friedrich Haendel, and 'M- Eine Stadt sucht einen Moerder,' by Moritz Eggert. Two very opposite experiences!
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Major Otto Piene Donation to Harvard Front Page
70 Artist Sketchbooks
By: - Apr 16th, 2019Elizabeth Goldring, the widow of internationally renowned artist Otto Piene, recently donated 70 of his sketchbooks to the Harvard Art Museums and Archives. Piene sketched what he saw and what concerned and motivated him throughout his life. Now, researchers and the public can have access to this trove of drawings and ideas by contacting Harvard Archives.
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Otto Piene at Fitchburg Art Museum Front Page
Fire and Light: Otto Piene in Groton, 1983-2014
By: - Apr 14th, 2019The current Otto Piene exhibition at the Fitchburg Art Museum in Massachusetts will close on June 2nd with a conversation titled: 'Fire, Light and Protest.' Photographs by Joe Landry, 'The Summer of 1969' are also on view at FAM. The photographer and curator Lisa Crossman on the work of Piene will be in conversation. First, however, the museum is inviting the public to participate in an outdoor Sky Art Event on April 27 near the museum. Art that flies!
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La Boheme at Komische Oper Berlin Front Page
Opera by Giacomo Puccini
By: - Feb 05th, 2019When it comes to culture, Berlin is always worth a trip. And a great trip it was, to experience the opening night of Barrie Kosky's interpretation of La Bohème, by Giacomo Puccini, on Sunday, January 27 at the Komische Oper (Comic Opera) in Berlin.
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100 Years Bauhaus Front Page
Opening Ceremonies in Berlin
By: - Jan 26th, 2019Angelika Jansen was lucky enough to experience many aspects of the '100 jahre bauhaus' (100 Years of Bauhaus) celebrations, from January 16-24, as she writes in her following article. Architecture and culture in the 20th Century were greatly influenced by works and activities of many members of an 'institution' that only lasted 24 years - and the Bauhaus impact lives on.
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