Sarah Alberti and Birgit Grimm present “Kunstszene/Ost – Biografien im Umbruch” (Art Scene/East – Biographies in Transition). The interview project brings together 20 in-depth conversations with influential figures from the East German art scene, including Strawalde, Via Lewandowsky, Christine Rink, and Annette Schröter. The aim is to reveal the complex reality of living and working in the GDR from the perspective of artists and cultural mediators. The focus is on personal stories that link individual experiences with social developments. While art created in the GDR has received increasing academic and curatorial attention in recent years, a more nuanced culture of debate is emerging in parallel, moving away from sweeping judgments. The project contributes to this development by bringing together biographical depth and multi-perspective narratives.

The interviewees' life stories could hardly be more different: artist Angela Hampel, for example, found recognition with her figurative painting outside of Socialist Realism and was allowed to travel to the West with her works—but always returned. Gallery owner Gunar Barthel was expelled from the GDR overnight, but looks back with respect on the creative potential of that time. The artist couple Annette and Erasmus Schröter, on the other hand, waited a long time to leave the country and made a conscious decision to return after reunification. The stories do not end with the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989 – rather, the project asks how the interviewees perceived the system change in 1990: What opportunities did the geographical opening, increasing internationalization, and the establishment of a market-oriented art industry bring? And what ruptures, losses, or new forms of competition arose in relation to West German actors? “Art Scene/East – Biographies in Transition” allows us to experience how art asserts itself under changing political conditions – and how biographical ruptures continue to have an impact today.

Dr. Sarah Alberti is an art historian and journalist. Born in Leipzig in 1989, she is particularly interested in contemporary art in East Germany and the social and biographical upheavals that followed reunification. As a freelance author, she writes regularly for renowned media outlets such as MONOPOL – Magazin für Kunst und Leben, WELTKUNST, taz – die tageszeitung, Der Freitag, Freie Presse, and the Sächsische Zeitung. She also writes texts for artists and various institutions, such as the Dresden State Art Collections and the Hamburger Bahnhof – National Gallery of Contemporary Art. Together with Birgit Grimm, she conceived and realized the interview project “Kunstszene/Ost – Biografien im Umbruch” (Art Scene/East – Biographies in Transition).

Birgit Grimm, born in 1961, began her journalistic career with an internship at the Lausitzer Rundschau in Cottbus and Senftenberg. From 1980 to 1984, she studied journalism at Karl Marx University in Leipzig. Since then, she has worked as a permanent editor at the Sächsische Zeitung in Dresden. In 1987, she moved from the politics department to the culture department, now known as the arts section. Her main focus is on art and artists, museums, exhibitions, monument preservation, and architecture. She also deals with cultural policy issues. Together with Sarah Alberti, she conceived and realized the interview project “Kunstszene/Ost – Biografien im Umbruch” (Art Scene/East – Biographies in Transition).

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Event in German