Kulturpark | Stephanie Sherman + George Sheer
On Friday April 27th Stephanie Sherman and George Scheer gave a talk on Kulturpark which was followed by Berlin style ping-pong and a dance party. Kulturpark is an investigation and re-animation of an abandoned amusement park in East Berlin, created and produced by 4 international curators, including Elsewhere founders. The park, originally called Kulturpark Plänterwald, was built in 1969 by the GDR and was a rare site for Soviet amusement and attraction. After the fall of the wall, the park became the family-owned Spreepark and suffered challenges of access, attendance, and economy. In 2001, the park closed from capital collapse. Ever since, visitors have regularly traversed the fence to explore this jungle of broken thrill machines.In June 2012, a series of events will explore the potential of these recent ruins, building upon the unique energy of Berlin’s urban, social, cultural, and political landscapes.
George Scheer (Co-founder / Board Director) is Co-founder and former Executive Director of Elsewhere. George is a writer, scholar, and artist who fosters creative communities at the intersection of aesthetics and social change. George is also the grandson of Elsewhere proprietress and puzzle maker Sylvia Gray, whose stuff he has been moving around for years! George holds an MA in Critical Theory and Visual Culture from Duke University and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania in Political Communications.