Long Night of Museums

Saturday, 25 August 2007, starting at 6 p.m.

And Paulinka sings: "Bist du bei mir, geh ich mit Freuden zum Sterben und zu meiner Ruh" ("If you are with me, I'll go gladly to my death and to my rest"), from "Life? or Theatre?", sheet 4250
© Charlotte Salomon Foundation, Amsterdam

This year the tone for the Long Night of Museums is set by the newly opened exhibition "Life? or Theatre?". In keeping with the total work of art presented by this exhibition, combining the visual arts, theater, music and film, the Long Night features not only the exhibition, but two premieres - a theater premiere and the debut of a "Singespiel" in the Museum Garden.

"Be careful with that!
It's my whole life"

The actress Joanne Gläsel brings the work of Charlotte Salomon to the stage as a thirty-minute solo performance. The show is a collage of pictures, text, color, music and film and shows excerpts from the staging of the same name that will be premiered in the framework of the "Life? or Theatre?" exhibition at the Jewish Museum Berlin on 1 September 2007.

When: Saturday, 25 August 2007, 8 p.m., 9:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Where: Jewish Museum Berlin, Old Building, Ground Level, Auditorium, Lindenstrasse 9-14, 10969 Berlin

Singespiel "Life? or Theatre?"

In her artistic confrontation with her own life story, Charlotte Salomon created a series of over 1,300 gouaches. Subtitled "The Tricolor Singespiel", it contains dialogs, citations, story texts, and a cornucopia of musical pieces that she associated with the other elements. The composition of the pictures picks up on the instruments of modern cinematography: flashback, montage, change in perspective, close-ups and total shots.

As darkness falls on the Long Night of Museums, the Museum Garden will become an open-air movie theater. For the first time, Charlotte Salamon's "Singespiel" will be presented as a musical performance. The picture cycle will be projected on a large screen and accompanied by music. The repertoire ranges from opera arias, to lieder and folk songs, all the way to contemporary hits.

When: Saturday, 25 August 2007, 10 p.m.
Where: Jewish Museum Berlin, Museum Garden, Lindenstr. 9-14, 10969 Berlin
Admission: with the Long Night of Museums ticket