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Talk between Katharina Gaenssler and Anna Schneider

Katharina Gaenssler, Photo: privat

Anna Schneider speaks with the artist Katharina Gaenssler about the making of the installation UP!, which will be on view from September 20 through October 13, 2025 on the terrace of DAS MINSK.

UP! recalls one of the most spectacular escape stories of the GDR: the homemade hot-air balloon with which the Strelzyk and Wetzel families escaped across the inner-German border into the Federal Republic. Gaenssler draws on an iconic moment in the history of divided Germany, transforming the balloon into an unmistakable symbol that links memory and the present.

The conversation addresses artistic processes, transformation, and the connection between memory, the present, and public space. It also focuses on how art can open social spaces for action and make community visible.