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An abstract drawing with three figures sitting around a table drinking wine, in the background a map showing the route of the Trans-Siberian railroad.

Graphic: graphicrecording.cool

Café Ma­gné­tique: La Prose du Trans­sibérien

Musical Reading and Performance Lecture on the Work of Sonia Delaunay and Blaise Cendrars (in German)

This event is accompanying the exhibition Paris Magnétique. 1905–1940 .

Parisian cafés at the time of the École de Paris were not only a fixed meeting place for the painters and sculptors of the European avant-garde, it was also where different art forms, painting and literature met. One outstanding example of these encounters is La Prose du Transsibérien et la Petite Jehanne de France from 1913. The collaborative book project shows a long poem by Swiss poet Blaise Cendrars about his journey through Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railway; the text is surrounded by expressionist-style illustrations by artist Sonia Delaunay-Terk.

Past event

Map with all buildings that belong to the Jewish Museum Berlin. The W. M. Blumenthal Academy is marked in green

Where

W. M. Blumenthal Academy,
Klaus Mangold Auditorium
Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin
(Opposite the Museum)

The third part of the event series Café Magnétique is dedicated to Cendrars and Delaunay-Terk's artist’s book and to the diverse moments of exchange and collaboration within the École de Paris. In a lecture performance, curator Shelley Harten joins the live artists Tiziana Beck and Johanna Benz from graphicrecording.cool, the actress Marina Frenk and the drummer Max Andrzejewski to explore the intersection of migration, the avant-garde, and artistic networks in early twentieth-century Paris.

Parisian cafés functioned as places to meet people and gather together on a daily basis, and often also as a first port of call for new arrivals. They served as parlors and studies for many artists, and were essential for the self-organization of migrants in a new, foreign environment: The cafés were used to establish contacts, find rooms and studios, and to prepare exhibitions. Famous Parisian cafés such as the Café de Dôme in Montparnasse were the focal point of this migrant and particularly Jewish-influenced art scene, which soon became known as the École de Paris. The Café Magnétique series revives the Parisian cafés in the Jewish Museum Berlin, inviting you to exchange ideas about the École de Paris over food and drinks.

Exhibition Paris Magnétique. 1905–1940: Features & Programs

Exhibition Webpage
Paris Magnétique. 1905–1940: 25 Jan to 1 May 2023
Publications
Paris Magnétique. 1905–1940: 2023, in German
Digital Content
Biographical Stops of Lou Albert-Lasard: The online platform Jewish Places
Biographical Stops of Walter Bondy: The online platform Jewish Places
Biographical Stops of Rudolf Levy: The online platform Jewish Places

Where, when, what?

  • WhenThu 20 Apr 2023, 7 pm
  • Where W. M. Blumenthal Academy,
    Klaus Mangold Auditorium
    Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin
    (Opposite the Museum)
    See location on map
  • Entry fee

    6 € , reduced rate 3 € + food and drinks by eßkultur for an extra charge

  • LanguageThe event will be conducted in German.

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