© Punctum/Swen Reichhold

For an open country with all people

Yvon Chabrowski & Christina Werner

Light Installation

at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Augustusplatz 5–6

(Kopie 3)

The light installation focused on a central demand of 1989: the banner reading “For an open country with free people” was unfurled after the prayer for peace on 4 September 1989 and held in front of St Nicolas Church by Gesine Oltmanns and Katrin Hattenhauer. The action was filmed by Western media and travelled around the world – it also spread rapidly within the GDR. It marked the beginning of the mass movement. The installation For an open country with all people gave women a voice and broadened the narrative of the Peaceful Revolution with perspectives that had previously been less heard. For the Revolution was and is also female: women became involved in groups such as “Women for Peace” and played a key role in shaping the New Forum.

© Philipp Kirschner/LTM

For an open country with all people at a glance

Radisson Blu Hotel, Augustusplatz 5–6

Location

Light Installation

Project Type

Yvon Chabrowski, Berlin, Christina Werner, Vienna

Artists

© Punctum/Swen Reichhold

The Artists in Portrait

(Kopie 2)

Yvon Chabrowski und Christina Werner
© Sabrina Mandanici

Christina Werner, born in Baar, Switzerland, lives and works in Vienna. She completed her studies in photography and media art at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig. Her works have been exhibited internationally in renowned institutions and museums, including the Deichtorhallen Hamburg, the Goethe-Institut in Los Angeles and the National Gallery - Fair Trade Palace in Prague. Her work “Rhythm is a dancer” is currently on view at the Bauhaus Museum Dessau. In her artistic practice, Werner engages with themes of nationalism, culture of remembrance and the formation of identity within the context of socio-political issues.

Yvon Chabrowski, born in East Berlin, lives and works in Berlin and Leipzig. Chabrowski studied photography and fine arts at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig and at the École nationale supérieur des beaux-arts Lyon. The visual artist gained international recognition through participation in renowned exhibitions such as at Museum Arnhem, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein and the Odessa Biennale. Her video sculpture TERRITORY is currently on display at the Kunstpalast Düsseldorf. In her works, Chabrowski releases media image formulas from their context, uses performative strategies and creates expansive video sculptures that make perspectives and narratives tangible.