An occasion to visit the Australian Embassy Berlin is the exhibition ‘Denkmal’, a solo presentation of visual artist Brook Andrew, who was recently appointed Artistic Director of the 22nd Biennale of Sydney. 

Andrew is recognised as a leading figure in the recognition of Aboriginal people’s history and existence informed by his cultural inheritance of Australian Wiradjuri (Aboriginal) and Celtic ancestry. His interdisciplinary artistic practice draws upon new and historical forms, images and texts that conflate archival sources, cultural markers, ethnographic records, found objects and ephemera from different time periods that conjure alternative timelines. 

Entitled “Denkmal”, translated from German as meaning “memorial” or “monument”, the exhibition responds directly to the artist’s ambitious Federal Government Australian Research Council grant research project titled “Representation, Remembrance and the Memorial” that investigates the lack of indigenous memorials within Australia that respond to Aboriginal loss and the frontier wars. 

Curated by Berlin-based Australian Art Director and writer Rachael Vance, the exhibition will present a selection of recent works comprising sculpture, film, collage, archival material and installation that activate the Embassy’s foyer exhibition space and courtyard. 

“I am motivated by the lack of memorials to the Australian frontier wars where innumerous first peoples were murdered and in the aftermath of British invasion - cultural genocide. Time in Berlin has furthered my research and arts practice in connecting Australia with international perspectives on these, especially relating to German memorials to genocide and fascism through artist, community and government led outcomes. 

Berlin is an important locale for this research in an international context: where artists, communities and architects have brought visibility to traumatic histories by challenging conventional commemorative forms and innovating the use of site, sculpture and image. The lack of memorials to Australia’s genocidal 

history contrasts with the many sites and museums in Berlin, wider Germany and surrounding countries that commemorate events of persecution.” 

Born in 1970, Sydney, Australia, Brook Andrew lives and works between Australia and Europe. 

Brook Andrew - Denkmal 

5 December, 2018 – 15 February, 2019 

Exhibition opening: Wednesday 5 December 2018, 18:00-20:00

Wallstr. 76-79. 10179 Berlin mitte