Admission free

Michaela Meise

 

Michaela Meise performed at the opening of the exhibition Tell me about yesterday tomorrow (Nov. 28, 2019 until Oct. 18, 2020) under the title Antifaschistische Schlager and Chansons.

About the artist

Michaela Meise (born in Hanau in 1976) makes research-based art that is shaped by her interest in cultural transfers and shifts in meaning. Alongside musical projects and performances, her work also encompasses drawings, sculptures, and videos. In 2005, she released a cover album titled Songs of Nico in cooperation with artist Sergej Jensen. Her solo debut, Preis dem Todesüberwinder, followed in 2011, featuring interpretations of hymns from the 16th to the 19th century. Her most recent release, Ich bin Griechin (2018), is a collection of folk songs of the 1960s, translated into German.

Antifaschistische Schlager und Chansons

Concert, Nov. 27, 2019

Under the title Antifaschistische Schlager and Chansons, Michaela Meise, together with musicians Barbara Wagner and Simeon Cöster, presented a selection of songs from her album Ich bin Griechin (I am Greek), which was released in 2018. Meise’s LP is inspired by the European chanson scene of the postwar period. The title harks back to an album titled Je suis Grecque, which was released by singer Melina Mercouri in the 1970s, after the Greek military junta had stripped her of her citizenship. The compositions by Mikis Theodorakis, Barbara, Maria Tănas, and others compiled by Meise are both popular and political at once. Their lyrics reflect experiences of war, the Holocaust, and the start of labor migration. At the same time, they tell of loved ones and moments of reconciliation. Through translation into German and musical reinterpretation, Meise brings both the content and the meaning of these songs forward into the present day.