Walter Kuhn (artist)

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Walter Kuhn (born in Nuremberg in 1946 ) is a German urban geographer and action artist .

Art campaign "Never again", Königsplatz

Walter Kuhn's main interest is to de-elitarize art through performance in public space and to integrate it more into people's everyday lives . Kuhn worked as a geographer and urban planner at the Technical University of Munich as a lecturer. He started his artistic work only after his retirement, initially with painting. Since he has restored a house in the French Massif Central, on the Plateau des Millevaches , cows were an obvious motif for him, according to the name of the plateau (thousand cows). In 2011 he organized an exhibition in France with other artists under the motto "More than a thousand cows", which was well received by the public and has meanwhile been repeated six times with a different focus.

Open air art projects

In 2015 Walter Kuhn started his first art project in Germany: Urban Transhumance . A 60-headed wooden flock of sheep that "grazed" on Munich's Olympic mountain. The "migrating" flock of sheep can be understood as a metaphor for global migration. Later she could be seen in different places in Munich, such as the Botanical Garden. 22 iron sheep are still "grazing" on the roof of Plant 3 in Munich's Werksviertel, where there are also real sheep. Kuhn wants to make art for people who don't necessarily go to museums. He wants art to be seen in public spaces. It should stimulate thought and discussion.

From November 11, 2018, when the end of the First World War was 100 years old, Kuhn presented his biggest project to date, entitled: "Never again". For three weeks, 3200 artificial silk poppies stood on Königsplatz in Munich. The action was intended to remind of the horrors of all wars, to protest against today's wars, such as in Syria, and to urge peace. Kuhn was financed by donations. The art project received international attention. In March 2019, Walter Kuhn received the "Münchner Lichtblicke" sponsorship award for the campaign , and he passed the prize money of 1500 € on to the Kolibri Foundation and the development aid organization Sofis World . d

Art project "Urban Transhumance"

Publications

  • Walter Kuhn: Never Forget. Never again . Munich (Allitera) 2019

Web links

Commons : Walter Kuhn  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
  • Homepage art campaign "Urban Transhumance" [1]
  • Homepage art campaign "Never again" [2]

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.urbane-transhumanz.com/der-k%C3%BCnstler/
  2. ↑ Sabine Buchwald: Never again, Süddeutsche Zeitung regional edition, Friday November 2, 2018, p. R4
  3. ↑ Ulrike Steinbacher: Much more than just sheep. Süddeutsche Zeitung regional edition, February 9, 1018, p. R8
  4. ↑ Urbane-ranshumanz.com: Urban transhumanz
  5. ↑ niemalswieder.com: Never Again: Poppies at Königsplatz
  6. ↑ sueddeutsche.de: 3200 red poppies on the Königsplatz
  7. ↑ Kristian Meyer: Mohn und Märchen, in Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 10, 2019, R4
  8. ↑ Poppy artist donates his sponsorship award , in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 11, 2019, R7
personal data
SURNAME Kuhn, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German urban geographer and action artist
DATE OF BIRTH 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Nuremberg