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Capitals of culture

Berlin (1988)

In accepting the European Community’s designation as a European City of Culture 1988, West Berlin wanted to identify itself with “Europe” and to present itself as a cultural showcase to the Free World. Beyond this political purpose, Berlin also identified an artistic development opportunity for the year. The intention was not simply to “produce a firework”, but also to encourage activities, organizations and expertise which would yield lasting traces for subsequent years.

The main idea was to present new artistic developments in the shape of workshops which revealed the process of creativity. An advisory planning group, consisting of artists, executives from cultural institutions and representatives of the Director of the 750th Anniversary celebration, developed the broad framework of the programme. The aim was to create a “meeting point” for artist professionals to explore and exchange new kinds of work, especially where the art form boundaries were breaking down. The themes for the City of Culture concentrated on three aspects of Berlin, which presented the city as:

  • A place of innovation ( a city which had left a mark on the cultural history of Europe),
  • a meeting point between East and West (where an attempt could be made to overcome, at least in an intellectual field, the political division which existed and
  • a centre of creativity (in which artists from a range of disciplines might be brought together in workshops)
Berlin 88 sought to present an avant-garde image for Berlin and open up the City to young people and to new ideas.

Source: European Cities of Culture and Cultural Months, Full Report: Unabridged Version, John Myerscough, October 1994