Welcoming address by Gisela Kallenbach, Member of the European Parliament

Individual cultural events find an international public and a few
artists become internationally known. But in Europe, culture is mainly
organised and experienced in the regions. Who knows much about the
specialities and the complexity of current cultural and artistic trends
and developments in neighbouring countries? This is precisely why the
cultural exchange between regions and cities of Europe is particularly
valuable. The confrontation with art always involves finding out more
about its background and experiencing more about the conditions in
another country, and thus more about the state of our Europe. Let me
then thank the Associazione Cultura e Arte del´700, which, together with
the European Association “Perspective”, has made this cultural exchange
possible and given us the opportunity to meet the artist Katrin Hattenhauer.

The exhibition “Inno alla Libertà” from Katrin Hattenhauer offers a very
special view of Germany. Whereas there is often talk about a depressed
and pensive mood in Germany which is tinged with criticism, the
paintings of Katrin Hattenhauer radiate an affirmative attitude to life.
They authentically transmit big emotions such as love and friendship,
and figures fill the canvas with movement and energy which jumps over to
the viewers and fills them too with power and enjoyment. With this
strong emotional expression, the directness and the honesty of the
paintings, Katrin Hattenhauer certainly occupies an exceptional position
in Germany. Everybody who is familiar with the past 20 years of
German-German history and the biography of Katrin Hattenhauer will be
aware that this is no easy thing to achieve and that her position is no
coincidence but is rather grounded in her strong personality.

Speech by Gisela Kallenbach MEP on the occasion of the exhibition “Inno alla Libertà” by Katrin Hattenhauer, on 2 October 2006 in Villa Aldrovandi Mazzacorati, Bologna

Madame Mayor, Mr President, Ms Frati, Ms Perrone, Ms Martinese, ladies
and gentlemen,

I am very pleased to speak to you today at the opening of the exhibition
“Inno alla Liberta” of the German artist Katrin Hattenhauer.

There are good reasons why a Member of the European Parliament from
Leipzig should say some words about the exhibition and the artist here
in Bologna. First of all, Leipzig and Bologna are twinned cities. This twinningpartnership is already almost forty years old, it dates back to the time
when the part of Germany from which Katrin Hattenhauer and I come was
under dictatorial rule. The partnership was revived in 1997 and today I
bring words of welcome from the Mayor of Leipzig, Wolfgang Tiefensee,
who also sees this exhibition of the work of Katrin Hattenhauer in
Bologna as an important contribution towards the further extension of
the partnership between the twin cities.

Twinning between cities is an important instrument to increase mutual
understanding and thus to extend the urgently necessary process of
European integration. If the people in the regions of Europe, and in the
towns and cities themselves, understand one another better then the
European community will develop it real significance.

In this sense I know that art exhibitions, and in particular viewing
works of contemporary art, can give a direct and profound insight into
the history and into the nature of the other European partner country.
Contemporary art is a sensitive indicator of the atmospheric trends in a
country. Artists pick up the way of living and the feelings of their
time, develop their own attitudes, and process these in their artworks.
This is why art and the exchange of artistic positions is such an
important and promising way of promoting understanding across national
borders. This applies to a particular degree in the case of Katrin
Hattenhauer and her works.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you look around this exhibition and let the
paintings exert their influence on you – and please feel free to do that
now already – then I am sure that you will be struck emotionally by
their happiness, by a joy of movement and a delight in colour.

Art will always involve a variety of widely differing approaches and
objectives. Some artists literally depict nature, others calculate the
various sections of their pictures with mathematical precision in order
to draw attention to structures, and some paint political messages.
Today, if you go through art galleries in Germany, for example in
Berlin, you will find a lot of works which reflect the societal
situation in their artistic expression, and the partially depressing
mood in which many people feel that Germany currently finds itself.

Not so Katrin Hattenhauer. Her artistic goal, using very simplified
means in some cases, is to express a joy of living which radiates and
comes across to the viewer. With her paintings, Katrin Hattenhauer makes
a positive statement about life and the opportunities in Germany and in
Europe. Some pictures might seem naïve at first sight, or if they are
viewed only superficially, but the emotional quality of the paintings is
the result of a hard struggle, and their real artistic significance lies
in this. Katrin Hattenhauer paints motion, the freedom to move, freedom.
With her paintings she gives expression to her freedom.

At the start, I mentioned that we spent an important part of our lives
together in Leipzig. We were active through until 1989 in Leipzig to
achieve the objective of “an open country with free people.” Katrin
Hattenhauer even went to prison for this goal, because she repeatedly
made public the protest against the oppressive state. After the
wonderful liberation we went different ways. I became active politically
and have been a member of the European Parliament for a year, and Katrin is an artist. But our idea of freedom has stayed the same – and this,
ladies and gentlemen, is the reason for the title of the exhibition :
“Inno alla Libertà”.

The relationship between Germany and Italy has always been close,
although not always fortunate. This applies in particular for Bologna. I
expect that the exhibition will add a new, radiant aspect to your image
of Germany.

I would like to express my heart-felt thanks to everybody who has helped
to make this exhibition possible. Enjoy the paintings, find you own
interpretations, and take some joy of life with you into your daily
existence.

Grazie
Gisela Kallenbach

Welcoming address of the Mayor of Bologna

Bologna is a cosmopolitan city, and for centuries young people from all
over the world have been coming here to study. Our city has always
attached great importance to modern and contemporary art and therefore
we welcome the exhibition organised by the Associazione Cultura e Arte
del´700 and the Instituto di Cultura Germanica di Bologna, which offers
us the opportunity today to acquaint ourselves with the works of Katrin
Hattenhauer.

The affection of the artist for brilliant colours is particularly
appropriate and almost a perfect match for Bologna; the dance and the
expression of movement in her paintings corresponds congenially with the
hidden treasure of the Villa Aldrovandi Mazzacorati: the enchanting
Baroque theatre.

With this exhibition, Leipzig and Bologna are beginning a new stage in
their of friendship, which I hope will grow stronger and involve more
and more people from both cities.

Sergio Cofferati

Welcoming address by the Mayor of Leipzig, Wolfgang Tiefensee

Since 1962, the two cities of Bologna and Leipzig have been twinned, and
the partnership was renewed in 1997 with the goal of giving the people
of each city the opportunity to find out more about the culture and way
of life of the other city. Therefore I am pleased about the exhibition
“Inno alla Libertà” of the Leipziger artist Katrin Hattenhauer in the
Villa Aldrovandi Mazzacorati in Bologna.

The presentation of the exhibition is doubly important for Leipzig.
Firstly, because in our partner city of Bologna an artist is presenting
herself who was one of the initiators of the Leipzig Peace Prayers in
1989 and was one of the first people to take protest out of the church
into the public realm. She represents a model of courage for thousands
of people in Leipzig who demanded freedom against a totalitarian state.
But at the same time her paintings now bear witness to a regained
happiness, a freedom of movement, and the joy of living. To this extent
the pictures can also represent the feeling of living that Leipzig is
beginning to project as a modern European metropolis.

I am confident that the partnership between our cities will come to be
as varied and lively as Katrin Hattenhauer's paintings, and I wish the
exhibition every success, with many discussions and many visitors.

Wolfgang Tiefensee