19 April 2018

Martin Rupprecht. Stage Design – Costumes – Painting
Book launch and archive presentation
Sunday, 22 April, Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz

The Theater der Zeit publishing house has just published an elaborate and comprehensive book on the work of set and costume designer Martin Rupprecht, who recently passed away. It was of great importance to the artist to establish a visual link between his stage work and his free work as a visual artist. The book sets a different accent in regard to his work as a professor at today's Berlin University of the Arts for the course on stage costume; a position he held for 30 years. Generations of costume designers were trained in this demanding and complex profession by Martin Rupprecht. As well as essays by theatre and art historians on his stage creations and his free art, long-term companions have been given the opportunity to say a few words in short statements. His collaboration with contemporary music theatre composers, such as Mauricio Kagel, Hans Werner Henze and Wilhelm Dieter Siebert, is also highlighted. But above all, it is the expressive images that convey an impression of how diverse his art is.

The publication is an expression of thanks to Martin Rupprecht for the generous donation of his artistic archive to the Akademie der Künste and the Theatre Studies Collection of Cologne University. In addition to biographical documents, the Akademie was given the works created in Berlin and the University of Cologne received those created elsewhere. The Berlin works legacy includes, among other things, material on Rupprecht's beginnings in the 1960s at the Tribüne and Vaganten theatres in Berlin, his breakthrough with Mare nostrum by Mauricio Kagel, his intensive cooperation with director Winfried Bauernfeind at Deutsche Oper Berlin, and the two large spectacles Preußen – ein Traum (1987) for the 750th anniversary of Berlin and Inferno und Paradies. Ein Wannsee-Spektakel (1988). And last but not least, his numerous projects with students, some of which were also shown at the Akademie der Künste. Rupprecht's artistic legacy is the ideal complement to the existing archives of Berlin set and costume designers Karl von Appen, Rudolf Heinrich, Volker Pfüller, Andreas Reinhardt, Johannes Schütz, Achim Freyer, Willi Schmidt and Herbert Wernicke.

In a Sunday matinee on 22 April at 11 am, the book will be launched at the Akademie der Künste at Pariser Platz. After the welcome address by Archive Director Werner Heegewaldt, Peter W. Marx will discuss the significance of Martin Rupprecht's artistic creation in terms of theatre history. Christoph Tannert, Artistic Director of Künstlerhaus Bethanien, will honour his work as a visual artist and, at the express request of Martin Rupprecht, Steffi Weismann and Özgür Erkök Moroder will premiere their performance Touch Amplifiers. Following this, there will be an opportunity to commemorate Martin Rupprecht at a social gathering in the club room.

Publication
Martin Rupprecht. BühnenBilder
Werner Heegewaldt und Peter W. Marx im Auftrag der Akademie der Künste, Berlin, und der Theaterwissenschaftlichen Sammlung der Universität zu Köln (Ed.)
Theater der Zeit, Berlin 2018, 240 pages, approx. 250 images,
ISBN 978-3- 95749-139-8, € 25

Event Information
Sunday, 22 April 2018, 11 am, € 6/4
Martin Rupprecht. Stage Design – Costumes – Painting
Book launch and archive presentation
Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin
Ticket reservation: Tel. +49 (0)30 200 57-1000, ticket@adk.de, www.adk.de/tickets 

Press tickets: Tel. +49 (0)30 200 57-1514, presse@adk.de

In case of queries: Stephan Dörschel, Director of the Performing Arts Department of the Archives, Tel. +40 (0)30 200 57 3254, doerschel@adk.de