Hamburg Unleashed by Ulrike H
As its center piece, "Unleashed" displays 16 colorful masks extravagantly designed by dancers Lavinia Schulz and Walter Holdt. The masks, which have been painstakingly restored in the past year, are made out of paper mâché, fabric, wood and found objects, and cover the entire body of the dancer. Demon-like monsters, a blue knight, wooden robots, and surreal dream figures are shown in a stage-like black setting with dramatic lighting. The poses resemble those in the photographs of the dancers in their masks by famous Hamburg photographer Minya Diez-Dührkoop. These photos are hung on the nearby walls, together with notations of the dance steps by Schulz and Holdt. They performed their dances to contemporary music by Hans Heinz Stuckenschmidt and others. Their "grotesque and tragic dances" met with great acclaim and were praised by the celebrated Expressionist painter Emil Nolde. In 1921 Lavinia Schulz and Walter Hold danced a mask-solo at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, whose then director Max Sauerlandt was actively en-gaged in the new controversial movement of Ex-pressionism. Just three years later their lives ended tragically: After six weeks without an engagement the couple nearly starved. After a fight Lavinia shot first her husband, then herself, leaving their not yet one year old son behind. The museum is the custodian of their personal and artistic legacy (draft drawings and sketches for dances, letters, 16 full-body masks, and five face masks). These objects, certainly a rare treasure, will be shown for the first time in their entirety. In comparison with Bauhaus artist Oskar Schlemmer's masks for the famous "Triadisches Ballett" the innovative body masks of Lavinia Schulz and Walter Hold can hold their own.
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Imagine Hamburg being one of the most artistically active and progressive cities of Germany. or artists in Berlin and Munich being envious of the artistic life and "Künstlerfeste" taking place in Hamburg. Not quite the case these days, but it was certainly true in the early years of the 20th century, as viewers will see in the Hamburger Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe's exhibition "Entfesselt - Expressionismus in Hamburg um 1920." One of the most exciting shows this spring (till June 5th), offers an extensive and exhilarating insight into the cultural life of Hamburg during the Expressionist years between 1919 and 1924. "This exhibition has been tailored for us," says director Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Hornborstel and adds proudly, "no other museum could have done it." With the many different collections of the museum, curator Rüdiger Joppien is able to show the whole cultural phenomenon of the expressionist era. About 350 pieces from all areas - dance, theater, music, photography, painting, graphic arts, publishing, sculpture, furniture design and interior design - show the immense fascination and power expressionism had on artists and art lovers alike. The show focuses with great intensity on the "Künstlerfeste", the annual highlight of Hamburg's artistic life, held in the Curio-Haus. These artistic parties were like "Gesamtkunstwerke", accompanied by posters, witty invitation cards, decorations, music, dances and stage pieces composed by Hamburg artists specially for the themed events. They were the stage on which artists from all fields exuberantly celebrated their new freedom.