Time Machines Reloaded

The Museum of American Art in Berlin presents an ‘ethnographic’ installation in two galleries about the genesis of New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) (1929-1936), the twentieth century’s most influential modern art museum. The writer and poet Daniel Miller is invited to reinterpret this room.

Lina Bo Bardi: director Charles Esche and curator Christiane Berndes used Bo Bardi’s design to display artworks from the collection of the Van Abbemuseum. They have chosen paintings in which human figures are depicted, works bij ao  Marlene Dumas, Charley Toorop, Asger Jorn and Karel Appel. Together with the viewer the depicted persons constitute a community, rich in differences that make our society so particular.

There is also a documentation area where the different museum modules have been placed in the context of the twentieth century’s exhibition history. There is also a presentation about the Old Building in the small gallery next to the lift. The Old Building, designed by A.J. Kropholler, was built during the period when most of the modules mentioned above were developed.

In September 2012, the exhibition  is added, a project by artist Jonas Staal and a concept of Jesse Klaver (GroenLinks) and Rogier Verkroost (D66).