German artists hope to teach, learn from Bengaluru

Bengaluru: From pop-up restaurants under flyovers that serve food in exchange for stories to workshops conducted with reading lamps, 10 German artists are working on a programme that would benefit them as well as Bengalureans. Based on the principle of mutual exchange, the inititive will give the foreigners new perspectives and teach citizens here a thing or two.

By Monday, a space under the Wheeler Road flyover will transform into a restaurant hosted by Laura Klatt and Tobias Daemgen, two of the 10 German artists who've temporarily made Bengaluru their home. At this unique restaurant, you can grab a meal for free but you have to pay for it in kind. You could tell stories, perform stunts or any other feat in exchange for food.

The artists are part of Spot on Bengaluru Residents, an initiative under the bangaloREsidency programme of Max Mueller Bhavan and Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts. The aim is to make both the participating Germans and the local community reap the benefits of fresh perspectives and expanding horizons.

For Laura, a theater pedagogue and artist, human interaction is a way of experiencing art. "Tell me something about your city, something I can relate to, like the spo t in the city where you had your first kiss," she says. She has already visited several rooftops to get a better perspective of the city. "I want to listen to people's stories and have dinner with strangers," she says.

Artist Tobias Daemgen, who explores his artistic itch by experimenting with complex technologies combining light, organic material and pieces of trash collected off the street, will begin his workshop - Light Parasites - from Sunday. "All you have to do is bring your table lamp," he says.

The workshop will be held at Jaaga DNA studio, Malleswaram. It will see participants making self-built projectors, collective light installations with lab equipment, magnifying glassese, mirrors and so on. He terms this "opto-acoustic art".

For anyone who gets the first glimpse of artists Elisa and Robin's work, the first impression would be that of witnessing something messy. But these artists believe even mess has its own charm. In fact, they found beauty amid thousands of dead fish in Ulsoor Lake. "We want the citizens to help us in creating a mess which will have a beauty of its own," said the duo.