COLUMBIA A visit to Berlin By Jinny Whitehead In May, I spent a week in Berlin. My husband and I walked through some wonderful museums—among the most splendid in the world. Although the war brought enormous destruction and ruination to Germany’s centre, most of the Berlin art treasures survived because the Nazis had packed them away carefully against allied bombing raids. Now the collections are again being properly consolidated and the museums themselves are being splendidly refurbished. ‘The most wondrous museum was the Pergamon Museum, named after the famous Greek altar of Zeus from Pergamon in Eastern Turkey. This immense and exquisite marble altar was disassembled in its entirety and rebuilt inside the new museum. The Pergamon frieze is not only enormous, but the great figures in it are not nearly as worn and weathered as the Parthenon marbles, and they remain still astonishingly alive. The frieze features a great battle among the Greek gods and the ultimate triumph of Zeus. Moving to the next gigantic room, one finds oneself before a reconstructed Roman city gate, standing above exquisite floor mosaics. And from this room, one passes through the reconstructed “Ishtar Gate” of ancient Babylon into the entry hall of Nebuchadnezzar’s Palace. It is quite breathtaking. Working from pieces and broken fragments of the original ceramic tiles from Babylon, the German archaologists effectively rebuilt portions of ancient Babylon inside the Pergamon —all winged Assyrian-style bulls and slinking lions—in brilliant blue and gold glazed ceramics. The Pergamon Frieze, Pergamon Museun, Berlin. The wonders dont end there—after Babylon one encounters a complete Syrian merchant’s house from Aleppo with wonderful wall and ceiling paintings, walls and altars from the Islamic period from a desert caravan city and many, many other wonders. ‘These antiquities were wonderful, but I also wanted to see some contemporary German ceramic works. I met a passionate collector of ceramics who directed me to the Keramic Museum Berlin. Although the museum was not actually open on the day I visited, my contact called ahead and Museum Director Heinz-J. Theis very kindly offered to open the doors for me. Continued on Page 6 / Berlin Clay Courses & Workshops at the Surrey Art Gallery Fall 2008 WORKSHOPS Hands-On Throwing Workshop COURSES Built By Hand 4 Sessions $88.50 Improve your basic techniques on the wheel through repetitive disciplined throwing exercises. Focusing on the dynamics of the basic cylinder, you will learn to have more control of this form, which will allow you to create a broader range of work. Instructor: D'Arcy Margesson 2 Sessions $136 | #679810 Sun, Nov 9 & 16, 10am - 4pm Kiln Operations Workshop Learn all about electric kiln operations from an experienced pottery instuctor and kiln manager. Topics include: kiln loading and stacking, firing schedules, cones and temperatures, trigger adjustments, troubleshooting, maintenance and safety. Instructor: Murray Sanders 1 Session $22.50 | #679754 Sat, Nov 22, 10:30am - 1pm REGISTRATION 604-501-5100 | www.register.surrey.ca Registration deadline: 4 days prior to start date surrey at G2 13750 - 88 Avenue am 604-501-5566 www.arts.surrey.ca Sun, Sep 14,1-4pm #681845 Instructor: Cheryl Stapleton Pottery - Level 1 10 Sessions $153 Mon, Sep 15, 9:30am - 12no0n #665496 Mon, Sep 15, 7 - 9:30pm #665497 Wed, Sep 17,7- 9:30pm #665498 Thu, Sep 18, 9:30am -12noon #665500 Thu, Sep 18,7- 9:30pm #665501 Instructor: Murray Sanders Pottery - Level 2 10 Sessions $153 Tue, Sep 16, 9:30am - 12no0n #674154 Instructor: Jodi Beazley Tue, Sep 16,7 - 9:30pm #674155 Instructor: TBC RuStigrey the future lives here. BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTS COUNCIL Potters Guild of BC Newsletter - July/August 2008