Dialogue of Cracks: Anselm Kiefer und Sven Johne

For the new presentation of the collection at the Kunsthalle Mannheim in Kubus 6, aspects of the rift in history are the theme. ‘Focus Collection: Tears & Fragments’ places works by Anselm Kiefer from the Grothe Collection in dialogue with contemporary artistic positions, including those of Sven Johne. Johne's multi-part work entitled ‘47 Faults between Calais and Idomeni’ is on loan from the LBBW Collection until further notice.

The photographic series was created during the artist's almost 3,500 kilometre journey in the footsteps of European history. From France to Greece, the artist's focus always remained on the ground, without taking his eyes off the landscape or the people. Instead, his gaze followed the cracks in the pavement, the distortions of crater tracks. He lingered on the concrete of former ammunition depots and the stones of former parade grounds, aware that not only societies and people have a history, but that the ground also carries memories with it.

Abb. Sven Johne: 47 Faults between Calais und Idomenie, 2017, Detail Idomeni