Monday, August 23

Last week, I visited the unique Hotel Everland for the last time.
The creation of Swiss artist friends Sabina Lang and Daniel Baumann, this moveable hotel for two will leave its position on the roof of their studio in Burgdorf and cross the Atlantic to become part of the collection of a Kentucky art museum.

The Hotel Everland

Staying in Everland with its retro curves and its calm aqueous toned interior in which one’s thoughts seem free to float undisturbed will be just a memory.

Inside Everland

The occasion was the annual Paul Klee Sommerakademie in Bern, which offers 12 emerging artists the opportunity to participate in a 10 day workshop with a leading curator – this year, the international critic and writer, Jan Verwoert. The theme of his workshop was ‘When your lips are my ears, our bodies become radios’, and for the period of the workshop the fellows, including Cape Town Gugulective member Kemang Wa Lehulere, had to produce a daily radio programme and a poster. But that is only one aspect of the workshop – other lectures, debates, intense discussions, immerse the fellows in considerations of what art is, or could be. Or should be.

Jan Verwoert

At the conclusion of the workshop, the nominators, from all over the world, are invited to review the procedures, and this year, attend the launch of a book produced by last year’s fellows, including Bettina Malcomess. Meeting up again with one’s fellow nominators like the American writer Steven Madoff and the director of the Bern Kunsthalle, Phillipe Pirotte, becomes a pleasant summer ritual. Phillipe tells me Moshekwa Langa is scheduled for a major show at the Kunsthalle in the coming months.

The River Aare

A highlight last year was very physical – a plunge into the swiftly flowing Aare River which runs through Bern, its opaque icy green reflecting its glacial source, but this year, it’s just too cold to contemplate a swim.