BDP Is Not Dead, Long Live BDP

Featuring Amy Ball, Juliet Barbieri, Caitlin Berrigan, Dominique Hurth, Goncalo Sena, Lorenzo Sandoval, Morten Sondegaard, John Holten, Katie Holten, Mundi Vondi, Adam Fearon et al

2008, a Berlin apartment. Line Madsen Simenstand, a Norwegian journalist and John Holten, an Irish novelist. They conceived the publishing enterprise Broken Dimanche Press. It saw itself as an avowedly European publishing press (whatever that means), dedicated to visual art, literature and the social sciences. Its first book You Are Here (‘Geil!’ - Angela Merkal) was a statement of intent. It was designed by Form Und Konzept, who would go on to be long term collaborators. 

The first issue of ‘The Kakonie - The European Journal of Art and Literature’ also came out then, a decidedly sporadic and shapeshifting publishing volley, it embodied the ethos of BDP: fast, multilingual with a bedrock of English, often slapdash and fuelled by enthusiasm and happy go lucky aesthetic impatience.

Over the years that followed many books, art objects, performances, events, podcasts, dinners and parties were put out into the world. Exhibitions mounted. Printers visited. Book fairs attended. Book distributors went bust or ran off into the night. Büro BDP, the project space of the publishing press co-run by Holten with curator Ida Benche, was an active venue in countless events and exhibitions and acknowledged by the Berlin Senate and peers in the community when it won the Project Space Award in 2016 and 2018. The summers of 2020-2023 saw the live podcast ‘Empathy When’ as part of the Tropez art space at the public swimming pool in Wedding Berlin.

Since then, it was unclear what, if anything, would happen with BDP. Would the enthusiasm still find a way to express itself? The exhibition BDP Is Not Dead, Long Live BDP, is an overture to a new series of paroxysms. Wohnung BDP would like to think of itself as joining a long and noble tradition of art exhibitions from people’s apartments, we’re thinking here not just of an Obrist in St. Gallen, or even a Castelli in New York, but of peers and contemporaries: Kinderhook & Caracas, Zyrland Zyropa, Bobshop… There are many, and we want to add our name to the list, because now more than ever we need community and celebration.
So welcome visitor, make yourself at home.

JB & JH