The Hanging Gardens of Oberlandstrasse

According to an ancient legend, the famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon – one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – were once built to heal the sorrow of a queen longing for the green valleys of her home. Re-envisioning Mesopotamian mythology in the light of current migration movements, The Hanging Gardens of Oberlandstraße provide a collective platform to reflect on the notion of home through a shared experience.

What are we looking for when we want to feel at home? In the attempt to build a new vocabulary around it, new spaces of mutual exchange will be opened, allowing individual stories and collective histories to be shared and new forms of coexistence to be envisioned. A new vocabulary around the notion of home will emerge, outlining a complex blueprint, where spaces remain unlabeled, defined only by the presence of bodies, objects, sounds and tastes. Here, each work will behave as an actor on stage, choreographed to question existing structures and share new visions of possible futures.

The Hanging Gardens of Oberlandstraße consists of a residency programme and a durational exhibition featuring works by Najib Abidi, Yalda Afsah, Hiba Alansari, Fadi Alassaf, Mouneer Al Shaarani, Mounira Al Solh, Andrea Büttner, Alaa Hassan, Margarita Jimeno, Ziad Kalthoum, Nina Katchadourian, Maysoun Omar, Annelein Pompe, Yaser Safi, Studio for Propositional Cinema, Shared Studios, and Wael Toubaji.

During these days screenings, performances, and concerts by international artists, performers and musicians will animate the campus, bringing a new feeling of home to the Atelier Gardens.

Programme:

Friday, 4.11.2022

16:00 Doors open

18:30 Welcome speeches and presentation | 19:30 Live Performance THE FALLEN GENDER by Derya Durmaz and Michael(a) Daoud (Basement) | 20:00 Activation of Najib Abidi‘s site specific installation Bitter Like Honey & dj set (Courtyard) | 21:00 SOLD OUT – Live concert by Shkoon

Saturday, 5.11.2022

12:00-21:00 Exhibition opening hours

15:00- 18:00 Calligraphy workshop by Mouneer Al Shaarani (Foyer) | 15:00 – 18:00 House of Cardamom, Make-up Room take over & podcast by BolBola | 18:00 Live concert by Nimrod Ensemble (TON 1) | 19:00 – 20:30 House of Cardamom, interactive podcast performance by BolBola | 21:00 Screening of Taste of Cement, by Ziad Kalthoum (TON1)

Sunday, 6.11.2022 

12:00-21:00 Exhibition opening hours 

16:00 – 18:00 Textiles and stamps workshop by Maysoun Omar and Fadi Alassaf | 18:30 Screening of The Shadow Workers, by Annelein Pompe (Basement) | 19:30 Live Performance THE FALLEN GENDER by Derya Durmaz and Michael(a) Daoud (Basement ) | 21:00 Live dj set by Najib Abidi (Basement) 

Monday 7.11.2022

16:00-21:00 Exhibition opening hours

Tuesday 8.11.2022 

16:00-21:00 Exhibition opening hours

Wednesday 9.11.2022

16:00-21:00 Exhibition opening hours

Thursday 10.11.2022

16:00-22:00 Exhibition opening hours

Friday 11.11.2022 

16:00-22:00 Exhibition opening hours

15:00 – 18:00 House of Cardamom, Make-Up Room take over & podcast by BolBola, with Queen of Virginity | 18:00-20:00 open forum Home in Times of Movement and Crisis (TON 1) | 20:30 Live radio performance 20 Minutes 20 Years of Home, by Khaled Alesmael (Basement) | 21:00 House of Cardamom, interactive podcast performance by Bolbola with Queen of Virginity | 22:00 Live concert by Juanita Laló & Friends (TON 1): Book a free ticket here

Saturday 12.11.2022  

12:00-21:00 Exhibition opening hours 

12:00- 21:00 Calligraphy workshop by Mouneer Al Shaarani (Foyer) | 18:00 Panel discussion with Mouneer Al Shaarani and Andrea Büttner | 19:00 Live performance Home In A Word, by Fatima Sai  (Basement) | 20:00 Screening of SSRC, by Yalda Afsah & artist talk (TON 1) | 21:00 Live concert by The Last Postman & dj sets (TON 1): Book a free ticket here

The Hanging Gardens Team

Curator and Artistic Director: Ayham Majid Agha | Production Manager: Heidi Erickson | Curatorial Advisor: Boaz Levin | Assistant Director and Curator: Chiara Borgonovo | Set Designer. Turgut Kocaman | Light Designer: Asli Atasoy Öner | Sound Advisor: Najib Abidi | Graphic Designer: Turgut Kocaman, Saeed Alahmar | PR and Translator: Karam Yahya | PR and Translator: Rita Sonal Panjatan | Video Documentation: Rachel Micallef Somerville | Exhibition Setup: Mutlu San, Kenan Jan Ibar