A question (or ramble) of cultural choice

Well, since my arrival here in Berlin, it’s been a very busy period of settling in, starting intensive language classes, navigating German bureaucracy, navigating Berlin etc etc as you can imagine. And so far my experiences of the art scene here have all been incredibly positive ones. But instead if blogging about how wonderful everything here is, I thought I’d blog some questions that have been nagging me even before I arrived.

My last blog was about mine, and indeed Contemporary Art Exchange’s relocation to Berlin without much insight into what was really lurking at the back of my brain. You see, most people who hear about Berlin and it’s vibrant cultural and arts scene will probably also know about the fact that contributing vastly to that vibrant cultural and arts scene is the vast amount of foreign artists and other creative practitioners who flock here yearly. Personally, I think this is a wonderful thing, although I am also all too aware of the various issues Berlin currently faces with an increasingly frustrated grassroots arts community sick of a lack of state support, rising rents and (albeit inevitable) gentrification of various neighbourhoods (for more info check out http://www.habenundbrauchen.de/en/).

So, naturally, the thought lurking in the back of my mind before departing for Germany’s inspiring capital was ‘Will my arrival in Berlin not further contribute to such problems as a stretching or lack of resources for creative practitioners? (Not that I’m so egotistical to think my presence here would cause such a catastrophic ripple effect…although that would be quite funny: “No, I’m sorry, we have far too many Australian/Scottish curators interested in cultural and national identity here already, you’ll just have to leave”…but still, you never know…) Will I be just another fucking artist flocking to greener pastures (for the second time now!) only to discover I was better off/more productive/more successful/financially better off in the UK? And if I am just another fucking artist from the UK, will I blend into the swathe of other creative types there? Will I be recognised for my skills/talents etc or will I meet my creative (and here comes a fun German word here) Doppleganger? Or another 100 of them?’

And then upon arriving, my thoughts turned away from myself (thank god) and towards the art scene itself, thoughts wondering what people would be like? How many Germans would make up the total amount of creatives I would meet, how many foreigners like myself? Would they speak English or German or a combination of both and in what contexts? I ask these questions not because I think it makes any difference to getting along with people here, fitting in or being a successful curator, but because I have for quite some time been interested in the cultural melting pot that is Berlin’s art scene and how such an environment fuels creativity. As I said before, I have been completely and utterly impressed by the level of friendliness, openness and honesty of the people I have met at various exhibition openings, events, meetings and online. And furthermore, within a week of meeting various artists and curators, I now have a long list of research references and tips, advice and several studio invitations.

And I hate to say it, but this kind of friendliness from the culturally diverse arts community I have begun to know here, has turned my thinking back inward again: when I think about it, nearly all of my friends and colleagues have some kind of hybrid cultural identity (Australian/Swedish, Australian/Greek, Scottish/Australian, Norwegian/Scottish, Finnish/Swedish etc etc), are somewhat ‘displaced’ (for lack of a better word) living in a country they weren’t born in or don’t identify with, or an intense passion for living in other countries. So my question is, how is it that we choose the people within our networks? Whether they are social or professional or other, if we ourselves are nomadic types, flitting from one country to the next in search of experience or even a home, do we deliberately choose people like us? Obviously, it gives us great pleasure to be/work/communicate with people with the same interests and experiences as ourselves, however, why do we make this choice?

Comments and questions welcome as always and more irregular CAE blogs will recommence in the new year! Happy holidays!

Kate.