The future-oriented issues of “water,” “food,” and “health” are the focus of the 8th Asia-Pacific Weeks, held in Berlin from 6 to 17 September 2011 under the heading of “Asia-Pacific: Partner for a Common Future.” In various event formats (exhibitions, performances, concerts, and readings), the cultural programme of the Asia-Pacific Weeks will take up the idea of food as a basic need and as an expression of culture in Europe and the Asian-Pacific region. Artists will explore the current and future significance of food, well-being, and health in the context of ecology, the economy, and technology, while thematizing various cultural approaches to growing and cooking food, as well as distinct forms of consumption and shared meals and feasts.

Cultural Programme

Floating Food

At Haus der Kulturen der Welt, the theatrical setting of “Floating Food” by the filmmaker, photographer, and collector of objects Ulrike Ottinger invites us to stroll through and relax in a landscape of images and objects. Images from Mongolia, China, Japan, and Vietnam reflect what food and water mean to people. The exhibition is flanked by a comprehensive supporting program that includes a choreographic tribute to the culinary traditions of Minang society in Sumatra and the world premiere of the film “Under Snow” by Ulrike Ottinger. The art project “Meridian I Urban” unites curatorial and artistic ideas for Berlin’s urban space and reflects on bodies and cities.

Water – Curse or Blessing?

With the exhibition “Water – Curse or Blessing!?” the architecture forum Aedes East presents infrastructural, architectural, and urban planning projects designed around water for the Asia-Pacific region. More than 20 European and Asian architecture and planning firms present their projects in an exhibition, a specialist symposium, lectures, and performances. Participants are from the architectural, political, educational, and cultural sectors.

Martial arts and hip hop

With “Leaving the Comfort Zone,” Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) invites audiences to abandon familiar ways of thinking. Artists from Japan, China, Indonesia, and Samoa take a daredevil approach to inverting perspectives. The performance group contact Gonzo turns everyday life upside down with extreme actions. In “Memory,” the choreographer Wen Hui and the documentary filmmaker Wu Wenguang take us on a journey through the history of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. And in “We Came from the East,” Jecko Siompo, a star of the Indonesian dance scene, provides intriguing choreographic evidence that hip hop originated not in New York, but on the island of Papua.

Singing Garden – Japan at RADIALSYSTEM V

Dedicating itself to German-Japanese dialogue, RADIALSYSTEM V will transform itself into a European-Japanese garden. “Singing Garden” is an evening of musical theater that creates a musical-poetic description of a garden from one night to the next. Housed in a former pumping station on the banks of the Spree, RADIALSYSTEM V is also showcasing the restaurant installation “Sustainable Sushi,” No theater, a koto concert with Makiko Goto, and a “family day.”

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The Asia-Pacific Weeks pool, connect, and showcase the expertise found in Berlin regarding the Asian-Pacific region and in doing so raise the city’s profile both in Germany and abroad as a venue for dialogue and as a “gateway to the Asia-Pacific.” Image:'FLOATING FOOD' exhibition - Ulrike Ottinger Geweihtes Fischerboot; Triptych, Photography; 175 x 256 cm (framed); Courtesy Goetz Collection