For What If Berlin, Akira Takayama transposes unrealised projects from the archives of the Berliner Festspiele and other Berlin cultural institutions, as well as from architects and artists, into the present and asks us which vision we want to realise in the future. These unrealised artistic designs are each allocated to one station on the Berlin Ringbahn. Martin Mlecko’s ‘I am Berliner’ can be seen at S-bahn station Hermannstrasse from August 28th onwards.
In 1986, the photographer and artist Martin Mlecko conceived the work Ich bin Berliner, Michail Gorbatschow, (I am Berliner, Mikhail Gorbachev) to be installed as a billboard at the Yorckbrücken in Berlin-Kreuzberg. The project made reference to John F. Kennedy’s famous declaration of solidarity from 1963, when the then President of the United States declared in the middle of the Cold War: “Ich bin ein Berliner”.
Since Mlecko died in 2016, little definitive information has been available about what his intentions at the time were. His omission of the article “ein” might seem like a small intervention, nevertheless, it could signal a significant shift in meaning. Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” was a gesture of solidarity from an outsider, by contrast, Mlecko’s “Ich bin Berliner” feels like a direct declaration of allegiance. By swapping the source of the quotation in Gorbachev’s favour, it is possible that the artist wanted to express hope that a divided Germany and Berlin might be reunited. The Berlin Wall would not actually open until three years later and Mlecko’s proposal was rejected with the comment that with jokes like this, he would be better off staying in Munich. However, the question remains a topical one: who is (a) Berliner? You can find more information about tours and tour dates at the following link.
What if Berlin
Martin Mlecko
Ich bin Berliner, Michail Gorbatschow
S-Bahn-Station Hermannstraße
August 28 – September 20
