Maerzmusik 2002–2014

seemingly not allow for interaction with the hard facts of its organization and basic set of assumptions.Therefore, despite its similarity to other biennales established in disputed zones, it significantly attempts to consolidate two divergent histories under a new, singular, privileged gaze.The post-reunification Musik-Biennale can thus be said to have attempted to mend a divided cultural history, though without reflecting on how its fundamental structural constitution was a product of that same history. Maerzmusik 2002-2014From 2002 until 2014, Matthias Osterwold would serve as artistic director of the Maerzmusik festival.The beginning of his tenure would also mark the launch of this new festival, starting in 2002, as the successor to the Musik-Biennale Berlin, which had begun in the German Democratic Republic, and been put on by the Berliner Festspiele as of 1991 due to the state's collapse.The festival would be centred at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, but worked consistently together with a varied group of other important Berlin cultural institutions.Among them were such prominent institutions as Radialsystem V, Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and the Hamburger Bahnhof, among many others.Already somewhat discernable in this list of institutions was the emphasis that Osterwold placed on the festival programing a wide spectrum of musical practices and formats.This would include everything from new and historical orchestra and chamber works, to small experiments, music theatre, crossovers between music and visual arts, as well as electronic music, all in ever-changing combinations.For instance, during the first festival in 2002, the first Saturday evening was dedicated to a massive presentation of installations and compositions by, or inspired by, John Cage at Funkhaus Berlin, the former East German radio studios south-east of the city (Berliner Festspiele 2002, 104).The festival also as of 2003 began a format that it called the Sonic Arts Lounge, in the Ticket Hall of the Haus der Berliner Festspiele.The format was conceived of as the "late night" offering of the festival, with concerts beginning as of 22h.The format was an attempt at exploring the interrelationships of avantgarde music, sound art, and club culture, all of which had rich communities in the city (Berliner Festspiele 2003, 196).There was also a constant and very prominent emphasis on the programming of music from a variety of countries and regions that do not normally get as much focus as those major Western centres that much of CCM's history has focused on.This initiative focused for instance on China (2002), the Balkans (2003), Mexico (2008), or on Russia, Armenia, and Central Asia (2009).Osterwold would invite

Arts, Culture, and Music Studies · Psychology