From August 4-6, 2019 The Aspen Institute’s Society of Fellows celebrated the Bauhaus at Bauhaus: The Making of Modern, a two-and-a-half-day deep dive celebration that welcomed 130 community members.

Participants convened on Sunday, August 4 for an unforgettable evening featuring Bauhaus inspired costumes, dance, exhibitions, and a conversation between Barry Bergdoll, Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art, Columbia University, and Leah Dickerman, Director of Editorial and Content Strategy, The Museum of Modern Art, on the “Ten Things to Know About the Bauhaus.” Guests were welcomed to dinner by Herbert Bayer (also known as Mike Maroni from the Aspen Historical Society) where they dined on German inspired food, a stunning desert shaped as the Anaconda sculpture, and settled into an evening of learning and entertainment to kick off the exciting days to come.

 

Monday and Tuesday mornings were packed with panel discussions and conversations featuring 14 Bauhaus experts who traveled to Aspen from all over the world. Their expertise offered rich discussion and insight into the tumultuous times that fostered the Bauhaus school; its iconoclastic leaders and their unique approaches; and the philosophy born out of its brief fourteen-year life that has had a transformative effect on architecture, sculpture, painting, industrial design, and so much more. In the afternoon, participants had access to various hands-on workshops, activities, and exhibitions to dive deeper into this rebellious and aspirational movement that in so many ways laid the foundations for our modern era.

We are grateful to all who attended and supported this unforgettable event!

Presenters: (click here for presenter biographies)
Jan Bartoszek, Barry Bergdoll, Jeffrey Berkus, Paula Crown, Edmund de Waal, Leah Dickerman, Bernard Jazzar, Eric L. Motley, Dietrich Neumann, Elizabeth Otto, Jeffrey Saletnik, Nikil Saval, Melissa Venator, and Robert Weisenberger.

Exhibitions: (click here for more information)
A Total Work of Art: Bauhaus-Bayer-Aspen
Bauhaus 1919-1928
Bauhaus Masters Furniture
Virtual Reality Video Experience

Check out video recordings, articles and more from the event!