Flying Pictures

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What would pictures sound like if they were music? What would they look like if they were brought to life by dancers? And what happens when the artists of their time inspire each other across the boundaries of genres and merge their art?

Those are questions that always trigger Music On Walls and we have found some answers attending the show “Flying Pictures” last week in Berlin.

Following the successful productions "Flying Bach" and "Flying Illusion", the Berlin-based urban dance company Flying Steps invites you to their new production "Flying Pictures"  at the Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum of Contemporary Art - Berlin. Staged by the Flying Steps and famous Brazilian street artists OSGEMEOS, "Flying Pictures" combines elements of art, music and dance performance. 

Modest Mussorgsky’s „Pictures at an exhibition“

"Flying Pictures" continues the idea of mutual inspiration and the interaction of different fields of art. At the centre of Modest Mussorgsky's famous piano piece of 1874 is a first-person narrator who strolls through the gallery rooms. The ten images he looks at as he walks through the exhibition embody different musical languages, each influenced by different styles and countries. The Fying Steps put this narrative into a visual movement for the first time in over 150 years. Instead of Mussorgsky's first-person narrator, dancers appear on a multidimensional stage, which can be viewed from several sides, in a choreography of elements of urban and contemporary dance.

Urban Dance Company Flying Steps

The Flying Steps is one of the most successful urban dance crews in the world and have delighted more than a million viewers over the past 10 years as they constantly face new challenges to create unforgettable productions. They step into this unique stage atmosphere. Creative Director Vartan Bassil says: "We lead the audience through the exhibition in dance and bring Mussorgsky's work to life.“

Composers, acoustic ensemble and beatboxer 

The composer-brothers Vivian and Ketan Bhatti – who have been working with the FLYING STEPS since 2009 and were awarded the Echo Klassik Special Prize for "Flying Bach" – adapt Mussorgsky's classical composition into a contemporary interpretation that corresponds to the beats and rhythms of the dancers. The piece will be performed live in the evening by an acoustic ensemble together with the German-Argentinean beatboxer Mando.

Stage design and works by street artists OSGEMEOS

The stage design also refers to the narrative of "Flying Pictures". It is characterised by fantastic figures and expansive elements that the Brazilian artist duo OSGEMEOS designed especially for the project. Victor Hartmann's works were the starting point for their artistic reinterpretation. The fact that the underlying paintings are largely considered lost resulted in an additional imaginative, artistic field. During the day, the works of OSGEMEOS will be accessible to museum visitors in the form of an exhibition. The Hamburger Bahnhof thus not only opens its doors in the evening, but also underscores its experimental understanding of a contemporary museum.

Exhibition and performances

With "Flying Pictures", the Hamburger Bahnhof not only opens its doors in the evening, but also, according to Udo Kittelmann, Director of the Nationalgalerie, "underscores its interdisciplinary understanding of a contemporary museum.”

Tickets für the performances are available at eventim.de.

A project in collaboration with the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and Flying Steps

Flying Pictures
Flying Steps & OSGEMEOS interpret Mussorgsky’s „Pictures at an exhibition“

05.04.2019 to 02.06.2019 
Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart - Berlin