Monument eines unbekannten Menschen
An orchestral suite and 24-channel sound installation for Ersan Mondtag’s contribution to the main hall of the German Pavilion.
20 April – 24 November 2024
Instrumentation: piccolo/flute, flute/bass flute, oboe, cor anglais, clarinet, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, violin, 2 × viola, 3 × cello, double bass, electronics, 21.3 sound system
In the main hall of the German Pavilion, Ersan Mondtag builds a walk-in installation across three floors, activated by five performers, two video works and a multichannel sound installation by Munich composer Benedikt Brachtel. Its starting point includes the biography of Hassan Aygün, Ersan Mondtag’s grandfather, who came to Germany as a guest worker in 1968, worked with asbestos for more than 30 years and died of the consequences (lung cancer).
Under the title “Thresholds”, the German Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale tells of past and future from the perspective of different artistic positions. “Thresholds” stands for the present as a threshold – a place where no one can stay, and which only exists because something was and something will be. For people whose biographies are shaped by migration, the present as a threshold between retrospection and projection also coincides with the physical experience of living on the “threshold” between belongings. The German Pavilion explores ways of dealing with thresholds, steps and borders in three scenarios.
Team Ersan Mondtag
Composition, sound installation, conductor: Beni Brachtel
Saz and vocals: Haci Aygün
Orchestra: Münchner Symphoniker
Recording engineer, orchestra: Georg Obermayer
Recording supervision, Studio Beni Brachtel: Daniel Door
Choir recording: Emanuele Wiltsch / Cosmogram
Costumes: Josa Marx
Artistic assistant: Lorenz Stöger
Performers: Frank Büttner, Marina Galic, Jonas Grundner-Culemann, Eva-Maria Keller, Tina Keserović
Performance organisation: Theresa Maria Schlichtherle
Costumes produced in cooperation with the Berliner Ensemble.
Video “Living Room”
Direction/editing: Beni Brachtel
Camera: Gabriel Wolf
Video “La Certosa”
Camera/editing: Felice Kaufmann