Anyone who has even a scrap of human knowledge is not surprised that Hape Kerkeling wrote the most successful non-fiction book of the past year. Kerkeling represents something like “Wetten dass ..?” On two legs or a Christmas tree in summer: the man knows how to please people. When he was gone for a while, he was sorely missed. The joy of seeing them again drove buyers to the bookstores. The topic came on top: In “Pfoten vom Tisch”, Hape Kerkeling tells of the six cats that accompanied his life, from Peterle to Kitty.
A sister in spirit
According to unrepresentative estimates, every second German has at least petted a cat, if not owned it. And the other half of the population knows people who like cats who could please with a book like this. The fact that dogs are the more reliable pets is not mentioned at this point. Because the detour in this short text is far enough. Actually, we’re talking about a sister in the spirit of Kerkeling, even if he may never have met her.
Six hours by car or eight and a half hours by train from Berlin, in Brno, Ester Krumbachová (1923–1996) is currently being honored in Dum omení, the House of Art. As a visual artist, author, theater and film director, she was one of the most important figures in Czech culture in the second half of the 20th century. The exhibition shows paintings and drawings, costume designs, jewelry, diaries and photographs until March 6th. The artist kept cats and wrote them letters; therefore cats are also present in the show.
Take away objects
On loan from a rescue station, twelve animals roam through the exhibition. A Czech magazine gives their names: Aran, Johánek, Mauglinka, Petinka and so on. The cats are as lively as Joseph Beuys’ little coyote was once in New York, like Rosemarie Trockel’s pigs at the Documenta in Kassel or Carsten Höller’s reindeer in the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin. A warning for allergy sufferers is posted at the entrance.
Is that art or can it be eliminated, people like to say jokingly today. Hape Kerkeling has already amused himself in skits about some serious seriousness in art. The Krumbachová’s cats can go. They are given home to trusted exhibition visitors.
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