Berlin 1936 Olympic Village
This project began in 2015 with an invitation to explore the 1936 Olympic village site in Elstall, Berlin. (It was an initiative of Palis Advisory GMBH Berlin).
The Village Site
The Village was built between 1934-36 at Elstal (Berlin) and has witnessed history unfolding. Built to house the athletes attending the 1936 Olympic Games, it was quickly converted (following their departure), into an army barracks and military hospital. At the conclusion of WWII, the Russians took control of the site, abandoning it when the Iron Curtain fell, upon which the buildings closed and subsided into general decay. It was one of Berlin’s forgotten places until the DKB Stiftung für Gesellschaftliches Engagement took over and preserved parts of the site as a historic monument and museum.
It features a fascinating blend of architectural and artistic remnants from both the Nazi and Communist phases of German history and constitutes a palimpsest of shifting cultural and political ideologies. The shells of former Soviet housing blocks overlook a cultural centre complete with Nazi wall relief and Communist murals, an international dining hall or Speisehaus der Nationen was present, and also a scattering of the original ‘chalets’ built for the national teams.
Artistic works to date have focused on the architectural, social, political and sporting dimensions of the Athletes’ Village and the Olympic movement and represent a significant contribution to the preservation of the site.
The objects fashioned by Peter Lewis have a high aesthetic appeal. Only by taking a closer look will the observer discover some of the more disturbing things that are being communicated. The bell forms (Lewis has used for his collages), were originally sold to the public as commemorative items for the Olympic Games in 1936; similarly the special postage stamps (applied to the surfaces of some of his pieces), were issued as a means of fund raising for the games.
In this way Lewis’s creative practice can help to expand perceptions and to create space for alternative, often even contradicting, narratives. It is the intention to view some of the more accepted narratives, whilst introducing alternative thoughts suggesting how the world could be a different place. (Quote from the Exhibition Catalogue- OLYDO BERLIN 16).
Exhibitions:
The subsequent work, in response to the site was shown at three different venues,
2016 Deutsche Kreditbank AG (DKB), Berlin, Germany
2016 Das Olympische Dorf Von 1936 (The Olympic Village of 1936), Elstal, Berlin, Germany
2017 neo:gallery23, Bolton, UK
Exhibition Catalogues:
Olydo Berlin 16 (ISBN 978-3-00-055493-3)
Berlin 1936 Olympic Village Project (ISBN 978-0-9929770-1-6)
The Project was made possible by Palis Advisory:
Supported by:
DKB Stiftung (Trust)/DKB/Bolton School of the Arts, University of Bolton/neo:gallery23