Event archive
2022
Concert: Felix Kubin & Soltera
One-night only, two inspired icons of synthwave and futurist pop, one from Hamburg, one from Los Angeles, meet mid-December in a club in HiFi LA.
Bureaucracy Under Populist Rule?
Rubina Zern-Breuer, Michael Bauer & Joe Mathews in a Fishbowl Discussion. Moderated by Alexandra Lieben.
How to: Community Engagement?
How do cultural workers, artists and cultural institutions develop strategies to engage with local communities and each other in a meaningful way? 2022 Thomas Mann Fellow Swenja Zaremba in conversation with with local community initiatives.
“Subject Studies: Reorientations" – Event Series developed by Rosario Talevi and Jia Yi Gu
Subject Studies is a new annual program series offering practical and non-practical public engagements, initiated by the MAK Center for Art and Architecture. Its inaugural theme, Reorientations, developed by MAK Center Director Jia Yi Gu and 2022 Thomas Mann House Fellow Rosario Talevi, directs questions towards institutional habits, routines and practices through perspectives of care, repair and transformation.
Moebius Strips Day 2
Curious Music is pleased to announce the next exhibition of Tim Story's Moebius Strips audio installation - December 3rd and 4th at the Villa Aurora in Pacific Palisades, California.
Moebius Strips Day 1
Curious Music is pleased to announce the next exhibition of Tim Story's Moebius Strips audio installation - December 3rd and 4th at the Villa Aurora in Pacific Palisades, California.
Meet The Artists
Welcoming Reception for our current artists in residence Ali El-Darsa (visual art), Siska (visual art), Anna Haifisch (visual art), Felix Kubin (music), and Lukas Schilling (visual art).
Exit Exil. Escape routes and temporary networks
with Sybille Baschung, Doerte Bischoff, Marica Bodrožić & Ronya Othmann
Workshop
Friday, November 18, 12:30-6:00 p.m.
Venue: Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Theaterwissenschaft
Grunewaldstraße 35, 12165 Berlin
Program: Mirko Lux & Vito Pinto
Organisation: Vito Pinto
Registration: vito.pinto@fu-berlin.de
City of Refuge: Exile, Dispossession, and Cultural Renaissance
The Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association presents the PAMLA 2022 Forum, entitled “City of Refuge: Exile, Dispossession, and Cultural Renaissance,” featuring Dr. Alison Rose Jefferson (California African American Museum), Benno Herz (Thomas Mann House Los Angeles), and Jan Lin (Occidental College). The forum is comprised of three short presentations on different aspects of exile, dispossession and cultural renaissance.
ECLECTIC SALON: The Music of Helmut Oehring
Join Brightwork newmusic as we present the music of Helmut Oehring, composer, director, choreographer. Helmut Oehring was born in 1961 in East Berlin as a hearing child of deafmute parents. He considers German sign language his mother tongue, as well as a foundation for his audiovisual compositions and choreographies for musicians, performers, sign soloists, and dancers. He is an autodidact guitarist and composer.
$10 Students/Seniors/Members of Villa Aurora. $20 General Admission
Celebration of the Installation of Franz von Lenbach’s Portrait of Katia Pringsheim
A Conversation with E. Randol Schoenberg, Robert Schoenhofer & Joan Weinstein. Musical Performance by the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra
Towards a Sociology of Loss: Lecture and Conversation with Andreas Reckwitz
During his trip to the East Coast, sociologist and 2022 Thomas Mann House Fellow Andreas Reckwitz will give a lecture and take part in a conversation about loss and modernity at the German Historical Institute Washington.
Loss and Modernity: Lecture and Conversation with Andreas Reckwitz
During his trip to the East Coast, sociologist and 2022 Thomas Mann House Fellow, Andreas Reckwitz will give a lecture and take part in a conversation about loss and modernity. With opening remarks by Paul Kottman, Professor of Comparative Literature and chair of Liberal Studies at The New School for Social Research.
Interlacing Threads: Reading Anni Albers Together. Convened by Karis Medina & Rosario Talevi
2022 Thomas Mann Fellow Rosario Talevi (Soft Agency) is joined by curator Karis Medina (Josef & Anni Albers Foundation), artist Ahree Lee and architectural historian & curator Gary Riichirō Fox to convene a reading group focusing on Anni Albers in the living room of the Thomas Mann House
Thomas Mann's Los Angeles: Stories From Exile 1940-1952
Director of the Villa Aurora Claudia Gordon and Benno Herz, Program Director of the Thomas Mann House, will engage in a conversation about the exile community around the Manns and Feuchtwangers in Los Angeles in the 1940s and 1950s and about the relevance of the two families' former exile homes today. Moderated by Thomas Aujero Small, President of Culver City Forward and Thomas Mann House Advisory Board Member.
Film Screening: The Strait Guys
A railway tunnel under the Bering Strait: a utopia, a vision, a mission. But also reality?
The Politics of Memory: Contested Cultures of Remembrance
Poet & author Max Czollek and Yasemin Yildiz, Professor of German and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Los Angeles, engage in a conversation around cultures of remembrance. Moderated by Joes Segal, Chief Curator at The Wende Museum.
Televised Democracy: Media and Politics in an Attention Economy
Political Scientist and 2022 Thomas Mann Fellow Christoph Bieber and U.S. television producer and writer Stephen Engel (Big Bang Theory, Just Shoot Me) will engage in a conversation about the potentials and dangers of the interconnections between narrative entertainment formats and public political discourses. The conversation will be moderated by Lorraine Ali, journalist and television critic of the Los Angeles Times.
Reading War - Film Screening and Discussion with Dana Kavelina, Mykola Ridnyi, Asha Bukojemsky, and Clemens von Wedemeyer
Conceived by artist-in-residence Clemens von Wedemeyer and independent curator Asha Bukojemsky, Villa Aurora presents two films by contemporary Ukrainian artists Dana Kavelina and Mykola Ridnyi. The screening will be followed by a live discussion with both filmmakers who will join via Zoom from Kyiv and Berlin.
Women in Exile: Feuchtwanger and Gender Dynamics in Exile and in Exile Literature
Women in Exile: Feuchtwanger and Gender Dynamics in Exile and in Exile Literature will explore Lion Feuchtwanger and the women in his novels, his circle, and his life. The conference will take a deeper look into the artistic and socioeconomic relationships of these women rather than review their biographies. What role do women play in Feuchtwanger’s novels and plays and how are they portrayed? How are women portrayed in exile literature and more broadly, how is exile literature gendered? How do female writers characterize women in their creative works? In what way does gender impact the women living in exile?
On the Dimensions of Public Interest Design
Thomas Mann Fellow and architecture journalist Friederike Meyer and Sergio Palleroni, Director of the Centre for Public Interest Design in the School of Architecture at Portland State University, met at the Thomas Mann House to discuss the potential of public interest design.
Räume mit Aussicht
Exhibition at silent green of works by Villa Aurora Fellows. With Ulu Braun, Nadine Fecht, Anna Sofie Hartmann, Labour (Colin Hacklander & Farahnaz Hatam), Isabelle Stever, Robin Stretz, and Sarah Szczesny
Transatlantic Media Forum - Democracy Disputed: Ever More Divided?
2022 Thomas Mann Fellow and political scientist Christoph Bieber takes part in the conference Transatlantic Media Forum - Democracy Disputed: Ever More Divided? He will be delivering the opening remarks asking Division everywhere? at 11:10 a.m. (EST).
Reading and Discussion with Ilija Trojanow and Louise Steinman
There is a life after fleeing. Yet fleeing has a lasting, life-long impact." Ilija Trojanow (Villa Aurora writer-in-residence, 2006) discusses his autobiographical essay, "Fleeing, And Then?" ("Nach der Flucht") with Louise Steinman.
Celebration of Ballhaus Fellow Silke Fischer
Come and celebrate Michael Ballhaus Fellow Silke Fischer with us:
Join Silke Fischer and Maria Schrader in conversation and enjoy a brunch with ocean view!
Thomas Mann's Los Angeles
Exile Studies Librarian and Instruction Coordinator at USC Libraries’ Special Collections Michaela Ullmann and Benno Herz, Program Director of the Thomas Mann House, will engage in a conversation on the publication of Thomas Mann's Los Angeles: Stories from Exile 1940-1952.
Meet The Artists
Welcoming Reception for our current artists in residence Bettina Wilpert (literature), Ute Wassermann (music), Clemens von Wedemeyer (visual art), Kurt Drawert (literature), Carola Bauckholt (music) and Silke Fischer (production design).
Communicating Across Political Fault Lines – Reaching the 'Unreachable'
2022 Thomas Mann Fellow Andreas Nitsche and Martin Kaplan, USC Annenberg Professor of Entertainment, Media and Society, meet at the Thomas Mann House to discuss what can be done to re-enable dialogue between segregated parts of society.
Artist Talk: Sarah Szczesny with Scott Cameron Weaver
Returning to Los Angeles, former Villa Aurora Fellow Sarah Szczesny will join us once again to discuss her recent art pieces that will be on display at O-Town House from July 23, 2022 until September 24, 2022. She will be joined by O-Town House curator, Scott Cameron Weaver.
Exhibition Sarah Szczesny
Returning to Los Angeles, former Villa Aurora fellow Sarah Szczesny is looking forward to her Tinseltown debut at O-Town House! Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, this Hollywood Hopeful brought a chest chock full of treasures with her: an exhibition of new paintings, collages, animations, and sound-scapes.
Book Launch: Thomas Mann's Los Angeles - Stories from Exile 1940—1952
To celebrate the release of the book Thomas Mann’s Los Angeles: Stories from Exile 1940–1952 (Angel City Press, 2022), the editors Nikolai Blaumer & Benno Herz will engage in a conversation with authors Tobias Boes, Donna Rifkind and Alex Ross in the garden of the Thomas Mann House.
Ute Wassermann Los Angeles Concert
Machines of Mistrust – The Fabric of Digital Cultures
2022 Thomas Mann Fellow Claus Pias, historian of science, technology and medicine Soraya de Chadarevian (University of California, Los Angeles), and media studies scholar Fred Turner (Stanford University) discuss the pressing interrelations between science, technologies, politics and trust in a world gone digital. Moderated by Thomas Mann Fellow Ulrich Johannes Schneider.
Exit Exil. Fünf Frauenleben in L.A. (5/5): The Misjudged
Episode 5 of the podcast series Exit Exil. Fünf Frauenleben in L.A. The Misjudged. With Michaela Ullmann, Benno Herz & Étienne Roeder.
by Étienne Roeder
Director: Philippe Brühl
Production: Deutschlandfunk 2022
Exit Exil. Fünf Frauenleben in L.A. (5/5): The Misjudged
with Michaela Ullmann, Benno Herz & Étienne Roeder
by Étienne Roeder
Broadcast: June 8, 2022
Time: 7:15 Uhr (CET)
Director: Philippe Brühl
Production: Deutschlandfunk 2022
More information: www.hoerspielundfeature.de
Exit Exil. Fünf Frauenleben in L.A. (4/5): The life divided
Episode 4 of the podcast series Exit Exil. Fünf Frauenleben in L.A. The Life divided. With with Farahnaz Hatam & Étienne Roeder.
by Étienne Roeder.
Director: Philippe Brühl
Production: Deutschlandfunk 2022
Exit Exil. Fünf Frauenleben in L.A. (4/5): The life divided
with Farahnaz Hatam & Étienne Roeder
by Étienne Roeder
Broadcast: Jule 1, 2022
Time: 7:15 Uhr (CET)
Director: Philippe Brühl
Production: Deutschlandfunk 2022
More information: www.hoerspielundfeature.de
Sonic Activation
sonic activation: villa aurora' is a work-in-progress by the sonic duo LABOUR (Farahnaz Hatam and Colin Hacklander), conceived for the occasion of their fellowship at the eponymous artist residency, that continues their exploration of nuanced format with regard to acoustic space as a potentially radical gesture.
Through a series of playful spatial arrangements, LABOUR invites the listener into acoustic space through a sequence of sonic activations that highlight the localization of sound and its often complex interaction with space.
Set in the former residence of Lion and Marta Feuchtwanger, the sounds themselves create a sense of dialogue between both human and non-human agents and include digital sound synthesis using psychoacoustics and algorithmic compositional processes, the unique in-house pipe organ and grand pianos, acoustic percussion, and acoustic kamancheh performed live.
The Democratic Potential of Citizens’ Assemblies
2022 Thomas Mann Fellow Christine Landfried, political scientist James S. Fishkin and journalist Joe Mathews will discuss the democratic potential of citizens’ assemblies. Moderated by Dawn Nakagawa (Berggruen Institute).
Artist Talk with Sonya Schönberger & Liat Yossifor
Esoteric Revelation Concert
ESOTERIC REVELATION is a new Angeleno trio featuring Pulitzer-prize finalist Will Alexander on piano, the cordially legendary Bobby Bradford on trumpet and the forest of foundation Lester McFarland on electric bass.
Exit Exil. Fünf Frauenleben in L.A. (3/5): Eva's Ghosts
Episode 3 of the podcast series Exit Exil. Fünf Frauenleben in L.A. Eva's Ghost. With Anna Haifisch and Étienne Roeder.
by Étienne Roeder
Director: Philippe Brühl
Production: Deutschlandfunk 2022
Exit Exil. Fünf Frauenleben in L.A. (3/5): Eva's Ghosts
with Anna Haifisch & Étienne Roeder
by Étienne Roeder
Broadcast: June 17, 2022
Time: 7:15 Uhr (CET)
Director: Philippe Brühl
Production: Deutschlandfunk 2022
More information: www.hoerspielundfeature.de
Nägel (Nails) - Artist Talk with Sonya Schönberger & Michelle Caswell
Exit Exil. Fünf Frauenleben in L.A. (2/5): What would Marlene say?
Episode 2 of the podcast series Exit Exil. Fünf Frauenleben in L.A. What would Marlene say? With Uisenma Borch and Étienne Roeder
by Étienne Roeder
Director: Philippe Brühl
Production: Deutschlandfunk 2022
Exit Exil. Fünf Frauenleben in L.A. (2/5): What would Marlene say?
with Uisenma Borchu & Étienne Roeder
by Étienne Roeder
Broadcast: June 10, 2022
Time: 7:15 Uhr (CET)
Director: Philippe Brühl
Production: Deutschlandfunk 2022
More information: www.hoerspielundfeature.de
Exit Exil. Fünf Frauenleben in L.A. (1/5): Geschichten von Marta
Episode 1 of the podcast series Exit Exil. Fünf Frauenleben in L.A. Geschichte von Marta. With Tanja Kinkel and Étienne Roeder.
by Étienne Roeder
Director: Philippe Brühl
Production: Deutschlandfunk 2022
Artist Talk: Liat Yossifor - the gray feather a thrush lost
Artist Talk with Berlin Fellow Liat Yossifer and Julia Rosenbaum
“Against Reductionism: Some Considerations on Scaling”
Thomas Mann Fellow and Media Studies Scholar Claus Pias (Leuphana University, Lüneburg) travels to Stanford University for a lecture and a conversation with Professor Emanuele Lugli (Stanford University).
Jews, Arabs, and Whiteness
Journalist & Thomas Mann Fellow Mohamed Amjahid in conversation with historian Peter Jelavich at the Thomas Mann House.
Democracy Redesigned - New Forms of Citizens' Participation
Thomas Mann House Fellow Christine Landfried gives a talk and joins a discussion with political scientists Joyce Mushaben and Mark A. Smith in Seattle.
Planetary thinking
RSVP mandatory
Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Markgrafenstraße 38, 10117 Berlin
Meet The Artists
Welcoming Reception for our current artists in residence Anna Sofie Hartmann (film), Isabelle Stever (film), Ulu Braun (film) and Sarah Szczesny (visual arts).
Rebirth of Cultural Spaces in Post-COVID Time
The Night of Ideas at the French Residence with paleontologist Luis Chiappe of the National History Museum Los Angeles, Regan Pro, Deputy Director of Public Programs and Social Impact at Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and Benno Herz, acting Program Director at the Thomas Mann House.
Pre-Listening Lounge: Exit Exil
with Uisenma Borchu, Colin Hacklander & Farahnaz Hatam, Michael Lentz & Gunnar Geisse and many more.
Tickets: Admission free
Start: 4 p.m. (CET)
Venue: Kuppelhalle, Silent Green Kulturquartier, Gerichtstraße 35, D-13347 Berlin
Pre-Listening Lounge: Exit Exil
Pre-Listening Lounge with Uisenma Borchu, Colin Hackerland, Farahnaz Hatam, Michael Lentz, Gunnar Geisse, and many more.
The Sound of San Remo Drive - Music in Time of Anxiety and Unrest
Maestro James Conlon and Stefan Schneider, German Consul General in Los Angeles, meet for a listening session and a conversation at the Thomas Mann House.
War in Ukraine: Transatlantic Takeaways
Political scientist Jan-Werner Müller in conversation with journalist Heinrich Wefing in the garden of the Thomas Mann House. Moderated by Kimberly Marteau Emerson.
Exhibition: Liat Yossifor - the gray feather a thrush lost
Vernissage and exhibition of the gray feather and thrush lost by Berlin Fellow Liat Yossifer.
Als Susan Sontag im Publikum saß
Movie preview with interruptions
Restoring Public Trust | A four-day, multi-platform program
We invite you to join the Thomas Mann House in Los Angeles for a four-day, multi-platform program in April 2022 with innovators from academia, artistic fields and politics to discuss concrete steps for restoring public trust in Germany and the U.S.
Between Los Angeles and Europe: New Approaches to Transatlantic European Studies | Seminar at UCLA
This hybrid seminar is a collaboration between UCLA's Department of European Languages and Transcultural Studies and the Thomas Mann Hosue. The course, which is open to undergraduate and graduate students, examines the long history of exchange between Los Angeles and Europe.
„Ein reizendes Köpfchen“. Franz von Lenbach's Portrait of Katia Pringsheim
Livestream and In-Person Event
More information & Tickets: www.literaturhaus-muenchen.de
Literaturhaus München, Salvatorplatz 1, 80333 München
Start: 7:00 p.m. (CET)
2G-rule applies
Artist Talk: 6 Friedberg – Chicago
The artist talk between James Gregory Atkinson and scientist Alexander Ghedi Weheliye will explore various aspects of the themes negotiated in the exhibition: the body as archive, the constructed fear of Black masculinity and postcolonial perspectives on institutional racism in Western countries.
Discourses and Likes: Emancipation Going Viral
Author and journalist Fatma Aydemir in conversation with Thomas Mann Fellow Mohamed Amjahid. Moderated by Uli Baer.
Steffi Weismann: "Downtime", Performance & Discussion
The new solo by performance and sound artist Steffi Weismann deals with the reduction of physical movement through the pandemic. Downtime looks at everyday routines in confinement to private space and takes the energetic low point as an occasion to find ways to get out of it. Does revolving around oneself primarily mean loss of meaning, or can it succeed in releasing new energies via exhaustion? Weismann uses minimal gestures and familiar objects to create her own sound world, which reveals a great dynamic between closeness and distance.
Europeans in Exile: Thomas Mann’s L.A. | Capstone Seminar at UCLA
This Winter Quarter, the Digital Humanities Program at the University of California Los Angeles and the Thomas Mann House are again offering a seminar on European exile in California.
Exhibition: 6 Friedberg-Chicago
6 Friedberg-Chicago, the first institutional solo exhibition by German-American artist James Gregory Atkinson (Villa Aurora Fellow 2016), illuminates a part of African-American-German history on a personal, social, and political level. In the exhibition, the artist presents his new film of the same name, which was shot at Ray Barracks, a former US Army Base in Friedberg. It was made in collaboration with dancer and choreographer Josh Johnson and harpist and singer Ahya Simone, among others. The exhibition also presents a non-linear archive dealing with the history of Black soldiers in Germany and their descendants, which Atkinson developed together with Eric Otieno (sociologist and political scientist) and Mearg Negusse (art historian).
Exhibition: all the lonely people
L.A./Berlin, November 16, 2021 – To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Villa Aurora, VATMH (Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House) and LAXART present the exhibition “all the lonely people” at LAXART.