Speaking

Martin Schumacher, Head of Cultural Affairs of the City of Oldenburg
Dr. Annette Schwandner, Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture
Joachim Werren, Secretary General of the Lower Saxony Foundation
Dr. Helene von Oldenburg, 1st Chairwoman, Society for the Promotion of Media Art
Sabine Himmelsbach, Director Edith Russ House for Media Art

Afterwards:
dance performance Monologue (2008) by Chen Yun-Ju
and
concert Erratic Flow (2009) by Daisuke Ishida

The Edith Russ House for Media Art celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2010 on the birthday of its founder, Edith Russ. She bequeathed her fortune to the city of Oldenburg in 1993 with the condition that a “house for the arts” be built, which was to be a place for “art in the transition to the new millennium”. In the following years, the concept of a house for media art grew, which is presented in exhibitions and supported by guest scholarships. Thanks to funding from the Lower Saxony Foundation, three new artistic projects in the field of media art can be realized in Oldenburg every year. In an average of four to five exhibitions per year, in numerous events and through a variety of collaborations, the Edith Russ House for Media Art presents the still young history of this art form and introduces its current development and new approaches. The Edith Russ House is one of the few institutions in Germany that is explicitly dedicated to media art. Its international reputation shows how right the founder was in her decision to provide a forum for media art in Oldenburg.

The first ten years of the Edith Russ House’s work will be celebrated and honored with a grand ceremony. In keeping with the occasion, there will then be two special program items, each related to the specific approach of the house.

First, Taiwanese media artist Chen Yun-Ju will present the German premiere of her dance performance Monologue (2008) with two dancers from Taiwan. In terms of content, this performance refers to women’s diaries, and formally to the Chinese character system Nu Shu, which is only used by women. The dancers’ movements are translated directly into graphic sequences that become visible as a projection behind the dancers. Chen Yun-Ju is the first Taiwanese artist to receive a scholarship from the Digital Art Center Taipei at the Edith Russ House for Media Art, which was set up with the support of the Goethe-Institut Taiwan to realize a new project in the field of media art.

As a member of the Japanese Sine Wave Orchestra, Daisuke Ishida was a fellow of the Stiftung Niedersachsen at the Edith-Ruß-Haus in 2009 and will perform his concerto Erratic Flow (2009) in the field of electronic music as a solo artist.

Both program points of the anniversary evening thus also represent the intensive work with scholarship holders who, as guest artists, integrate specific Oldenburg ideas into a new media art project, but who have an equal impact on the Oldenburg art scene.

There will be a repeat of the dance performance and concert on Saturday, January 23, at 7 p.m. in the Edith-Ruß-Haus.