Installation by James Turrell. Altar located inside the memorial chapel at Dorotheenstädtischer Cemetery in Berlin. Image from the event’s Facebook page
James Turrell’s permanent installation at the Dorotheenstädtischer Cemetery in Berlin is back. However, this time around the sunset-inspired light show has played an even more important role for Berliners and tourists alike as they experience a very inconsistent summertime, to say the least. The show begins with a cool blue light that mimics the sky preparing to host a colourful sunset, with warm oranges, soothing pinks and vibrant reds — the colours the German capital has lacked in this year’s unusual summer. By attending the spectacular presentation the audience can submerge in a mesmerising shadow-less space that creates the illusion of a private dry sunset and not the capital’s wet reality found outside the illuminated walls.
Turrell’s permanent installation can be found in a 20th-century chapel which was built around 1927. Interestingly, no documents remain to show how it originally looked. The current space, however, was renovated by Nedelykov Moreira, who managed to give the mysterious memorial chapel a clean, modern and minimal look that serves as the perfect canvas for Turrell’s practice. You can catch the show every Monday and Saturday, but if you arrive early you can also look at the monuments, mausoleums and gravestones dedicated to a number of German cultural figures, like philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.
Because the sun sets at different times every day, it’s important to look at the cemetery’s timetable before you venture to the Friedhof.
James Turrell in Berlin. Image via berlinerstiftungswoche.eu
James Turrell in Berlin. Image via berlinerstiftungswoche.eu
James Turrell in Berlin. Imave via rip-arreic.tumblr.com
James turrell in Berlin. Image via Twitter
Click here for more information about the show and guided tours