The DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam is currently presenting the exhibition “I’ve Seen the Wall“, retracing Louis Armstrong’s legendary concert tour of the GDR in 1965. Until February 4, 2023, visitors can relive this historic visit and its impact on the music, politics and culture of the time. The exhibition transports visitors into a retro 60s atmosphere, offering an immersive experience that allows them to feel the excitement and freedom that audiences experienced at Louis Armstrong concerts in the GDR, despite the oppression and racism that prevailed at the time. It offers a unique opportunity to discover the history of jazz music and its role in cultural diplomacy, as well as to reflect on the social and political issues of the time.
During the Cold War, the famous African-American jazz musician Louis Armstrong toured East Berlin, Leipzig, Magdeburg, Erfurt and Schwerin. This intense tour included 17 concerts in just nine days, and the concert halls, with a capacity of around 2,000 to 3,000, were quickly filled, giving over 45,000 people the chance to discover Louis Armstrong and his All Stars in the GDR.
The “I’ve Seen the Wall” exhibition at DAS MINSK uses this historic event as a source to examine the equivocation of this official invitation in the context of the civil rights movement in the USA and the Iron Curtain in Europe. The main questions raised by the exhibition are: what are the implications of traveling the world and visiting oppressive systems and dictatorships in the name of freedom? What does it mean to experience recognition and racism simultaneously on these journeys, only to return home to face racism once again?
Louis Armstrong‘s performance in the GDR appears as a sign of freedom, lasting only for the moment of his performance. It’s a compelling and truthful analysis of black music. Experiencing the love and wonder of the audience on stage belies the difficulties musicians face backstage. “I’ve Seen the Wall” is a retrospective exhibition featuring paintings, photographs, archival documents and installations by Adrian Piper, Andy Warhol, Darol Olu Kae, Dan Perjovschi, Evelyn Richte, Gordon Parks, Glenn Ligon, Jason Moran, Louis Armstrong, Lorna Simpson, Norman Lewis, Peter Brötzmann, Pina Bausch, Romare Bearden, Rosemarie Trockel, Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt, Terry Adkins, Willi Sitte and Wadada Leo Smith.
Documents from the Louis Armstrong House Museum in New York, as well as from the holdings of Sammlung Berliner Verlag / Archiv and Agentur DDR Fotoerbe will also be part of the exhibition, including photographs by Kurt Böttger, Manfred Dressel, Christa Hochneder, Volkhard Kühl, Tassilo. Leher, Peter Leske, Helmut Raddatz and Horst E. Schulze. The fourth installment in the INTERPLAY series features an original trumpet by Louis Armstrong, juxtaposed with a work by Andy Warhol from the Hasso Plattner collection. Curated by Paola Malavassi and Jason Moran, the exhibition has been produced in close collaboration with the Louis Armstrong House Museum (LAHM) in Corona, Queens, New York and will be accompanied by a catalog published by Hatje Cantz Verlag with essays by Tina M. Campt, Paola Malavassi and Jason Moran.
