Metaphorical Altar

I think my altar would have...

-The past, present, and future line-up of artists and exhibitions at the Temporäre Kunsthalle 

-A video of the goings-on on the island that the Kunsthalle shares with the Evangelical Cathedral 

-The guest books from some of the 200+ new galleries in different districts in Berlin

-Cut-out reviews from local papers/magazines regarding gallery exhibitions and news reports dealing with those exhibitions that stirred controversy

-Photographs of the studios of local and international artists 

-Photographs of graffiti/posters/ informal art throughout the city and places like the Tacheless Art Cooperative

Recently, I was reading an article in ARTnews about the rapidly rising status of Berlin on the international art scene and the explosion of new galleries in the past few years. Mostly, I hope to explore the role(s) of contemporary art galleries in shaping new national and, perhaps more importantly, transnational identities in Berlin. I am interested in the messages sent by the inclusion or exclusion of material from collections in the different areas of the city, as well as hopeful/humorous/ugly/hidden/ issues that have been brought to the surface through art exhibition formally and informally. 

This is super broad and I am still working on forming a more concise research concept and ideas for methods, but I'd love to go in this kind of direction. 

Also- slight correction to the email Julie sent- I am actually going to be studying Museology at UW next year, although I applaud all those who study music :)

Ok, cheers, more later...