About Lifelines

The Lifelines event series is an innovative format used to reflect on, pay tribute to and introduce a broad audience to the complexity of the works of individual, outstanding figures in the arts. The events have been held at Haus der Kulturen der Welt since spring of 2009.

The series is devoted to fascinating artists whose work has gone largely unexplored in Germany.

This exploration demands an accompanying portrayal of how the works emerged as well as their historical, political and artistic contexts.

In addition, the analysis of a heterogeneous life’s work enables us to gain an understanding of the cultural background from which it emerged, thus allowing emotional, intuitive insights into questions of interculturalism and globalization.

Lifelines portrays artists of all genres (visual arts, poetry, music, film) making use of different formats such as concerts, readings, films, exhibitions, lectures and discussions. To date, the Lifelines series has presented the musicians Hugh Masekela and Ruben Rada and the writer Nuruddin Farah. Now, for the first time, we are featuring a German artist, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, whose work has significantly influenced avant-garde instrumental music both inside and outside Germany since the early 1970s.