Examples of the Bremen School of Sculpture
An exhibition on the occasion of the 80th birthday
of Prof. Bernd Altenstein
On the occasion of the 80th birthday of the widely known Worpswede sculptor Bernd Altenstein, the “Working Group Sculptures in Public Space” presents this year the exhibition project “Masters & Students – Examples of the Bremen Sculpture School” with works by Bernd Altenstein and sculptors from his former class at the HfK Bremen. For three and a half decades, Bernd Altenstein trained young sculptors as a professor in the liberal arts program, who have long since become successful and renowned sculptors in their own right. In his honor, there will now be an exhibition in public space in the artists’ village of Worpswede and an accompanying exhibition in the Galerie Altes Rathaus from September 3 to October 8, 2023.
In addition to Bernd Altenstein, Cornelia Brader (Memmingen), Hinrich Brockmöller (Bremen), Barbara Deutschmann (Bremen), Klaus Effern (Bremen), Gisela Eufe (Bremen/Worpswede), Rainer Fest (Glashütte), Christoph Fischer (Worpswede), Ulrike Gölner (Verden), Dietrich Heller (Bremen), Hans J. Müller (Bremen), Amir Omerovic (Bremen), Stefan Saxen (Bremen) and Silvia Siemes (Tengen) will be exhibiting.
With the project “Sculptures in Public Space” Worpswede is once again under the sign of art since July 1, 2023. 11 of the aforementioned artists provide an insight into their work and show, parallel to the gallery exhibition, one of their works on the Bergstraße for 12 months. And not in a closed space, but in the heart of Worpswede, outside, on the Bergstraße in Worpswede, visible to all passers-by. Standing in view, they conquer their public space.
The exhibition “Masters & Students – Examples of the Bremen School of Sculpture” is the third result of the working group that came into being in the field of action “Art, Culture and Tourism” as part of the community development process and still wants to help shape Worpswede in active citizen participation in diverse projects.
Starting with the title “Sculpture Trail on the Weyerberg”, the project group moved along the interfaces of art in public space, landscape and tourism. All sculptures that already exist in public in Worpswede were photographed and documented with GPS location coordinators; a cartographic overview plan was created. In parallel, the tour guides developed a guided tour “On the trail of the sculpture”.
The working group specified its basic idea of a sculpture path that connects essential areas and interesting places of the community through artistic works and enables a new perception of the sculpture and the landscape in which it is located. For the first implementation step, the group soon focused on the mountain road as an exhibition space. Sculptures in the middle of people’s walk, to make Worpswede an art space for everyone to experience, to visualize the artist’s place, even for people who do not go to a museum. To bring people into contact with art in an informal way – without doors and without admission. To open Worpswede also as a place for external sculptors, to enable a dialogue between national and local sculptors, between young and established sculptors.
Low-threshold – but with high quality.
