#25 OLIVER KOERNER VON GUSTORF | writer, curator, former gallery owner, Berlin & the countryside

In this first Episode of 2021 I speak with Oliver Koerner von Gustorf, writer, curator and former co-owner of gallery September in Berlin. Oliver regularly contributes to Art Magazines like Monopol and the Feuilletons of the German Newspaper landscape. Recent articles include "30 Jahre deutsche Einheit (30 years German unification) - Pop life" about the art and music scene of the 80s and 90s in Berlin, of which he was a part of and "Commons retten die Kunst - Plädoyer für eine gewöhnliche Kultur (Commons save the arts - plea for a commons culture)", both published in Monopol Magazine. We talk his early years in the Berlin subculture of Punks, squatting, clubs and dilettante art making. He reveals his personal struggle, taking care of his boyfriend who suffered of HIV/AIDS and ultimately died of it and how he became a writer in the course of an exhibition of the band "Die tödliche Doris (deadly Doris)" of which his late boyfriend was a member. We get a deep insight into the attitudes of the art scene of these years in Berlin. From there on Oliver was invited to write for the TAZ and even started writing for the art department of Deutsche Bank. We talk art, language, books, identity, capitalism, poverty, money, art fairs, galleries - the full gamut. As a writer Oliver reflects and verbalize his experiences deeply and gives them to us in an extraordinary way. Enjoy. This Episode was recorded January 2, 2021. 60 min. Language: English