2023-12-02 10:54:45
Stand out in the call “Museum Mile” of Munich It is not an easy task. The jewels of the museum circuit of the Bavarian capital are its great pinacotecas -the ancient and the modern- and the spectacular multicolored façade of the Brandhorsthome since 2009 to a collection with all the essentials of contemporary art, from Bruce Nauman to Joseph Beuys, from Jannis Kounellis to Walter de Maria, plus a hundred pieces of Andy Warhol and many others of Cy Twombli-. They are accompanied by the Bavarian National Museum and the Galerie am Lenbachhaus.
But beyond the essential visit to the unquestionable ones, it is advisable to take some time to House of Art, literally the “House of Art”. That is to say, the old building with a stone gray façade without any sign of architectural updating, with its characteristic enormous columns and side terraces located in a corner of the Englischer Garten. It was built in 1937 to house official art according to the parameters Adolf Hitler. As a mockery of that sinister past – not only because of the monstrosity of Nazismbut also for his obsession against what he considered “degenerate art” – it is currently the museum of the most groundbreaking programming in the city.
Taking time means dedicating an entire day to the Haus der Kunst. You can start by visiting its temporary exhibitions -since it has no permanent background-, then take a long break to surf with the surfboard and end beyond the closing of the museum and until after midnight in its cocktail bar.
At the work of Ai Weiwei
The Haus der Kunst was always there, but some discovered it in 2009, when the Chinese activist Ai Weiwei covered its façade with 9,000 children’s backpacks of different colors. With them he represented the thousands of schoolchildren killed in the sichuan earthquakea natural disaster increased by the negligence and state corruption. What from a distance seemed to want to give a touch of life to the old building ended up being a denunciation of all those dead.
‘So Sorry’ was the name of the exhibition and it is one of the most impressive in the museum’s recent history. Season after season, the House gives new lessons of activism applied to arte, whether to the fight against climate change, colonialism, social exclusion or joining the feminist cause. Whoever comes to Munich before the end of 2023 or until the spring of 2024 will have the opportunity to visit the largest retrospective of the New Yorker so far exhibited Meredith Monk.
Another option is the 12 experiences included in the call ‘Inside Other Spaces’, where the visitor is invited to take off his shoes to feel more intensely the woods through which he passes. You can then sit down to chat with companions or strangers in the sinuous chairs spread throughout the ground floor. Martino Gamper. Or visit the archive, opened in 2020, where you can review the tortuous history of the museum built during Hitler’s time, that after the capitulation of the Third Reich It remained under Allied tutelage and after several renovation efforts it reopened as what it is now. The renovation is internal, while its façade unapologetically displays the scars left by history and the traces of timeincluding mold and scratches on its columns.
The one meter wave
It is also a good idea to take your time and then go through the Eisbachwelle, the icy wave emerging from a branch of the Isar river and then runs through the heart of the park. About 150 meters from the main façade of the Haus der Kunst you will find your perfect wave, up to one meter high, open to the public at any time, any day of the year and free of charge. The curious or companions are located on the margins, while further ahead surfers wait. Each one comes with their own board, more or less equipped and ready to wait their turn until they launch themselves on the wave.
Nothing to do with California, Hawaii, Tarifa or any other attraction point for surf lovers. Not only because the water is frozen, but because it is rather a place to practice, exercise balance on the board and maintain the love for a sport that theoretically should not be among the offer of a city without sea, what Munich is like. It is not a mechanically powered wave like in a water park. It emerges vigorously from the bridge where that arm of the Isar meets its tributary. The stones strategically located at its bottom, plus some wooden platforms make the wonder possible. They have been there for a few decades now, consolidated as part of Munich’s tourist offer, despite the fact that it is theoretically No bathing at any point in the Eisbach.
The end point of the route is The Golden Bar, the golden bar. It is accessed by one of the musty stairs that surround the Haus der Kunst, from the side next to the large city park. It is a multi-talented place, where you can either have the second breakfast of the day or ‘brunch’ or have a snack ‘coffee and cake‘ -coffee and cake-, dinner or move on to the drink and cocktail. It opens its doors a little later than the museum, at 12 noon. And it remains active until midnight, extendable until two in the morning on Saturday and Sunday.
What makes the museum bar something unique is the space it occupies: the same interior golden room designed in nazi times, with historical paintings, with different spaces to have a drink or dine, plus the terrace and its outdoor bar. In winter life obviously happens inside; Starting in spring, its outdoor space is ‘lounge’ territory, between its own music, concerts and more or less spontaneous parties in the park.
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