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"Open Sky, Open Hearts,
Open Futures"

an event
on the occasion
of the public opening of
The Tempelhof Field, Berlin, Germany

SUNDAY MAY 9, 2010

And preparing for events
on May 14th -15th
about urban living in the 12st Century


 Templehof Kite Meeting 9May2010



a  CELEBRATION
 a  PICNIC
 a  FUTURES WORKSHOP
of spring,
and the opening of the historical Tempelhof Field on the weekend, marked ON SUNDAY with an International Kiteflyers Spectacular Event to use the new common ground to fly kites in the open sky,
along with the neighboring inter-cultural garden, the  Pyramidengarten, a member of Stiftung Interkultur.
 very informal,
bring something to enjoy and share.

And / Or there is gastronomy "next door",
nearby on the field.
about
our feelings and thoughts on living in urban Berlin and shaping the future of common conditions for urban living into the 21st Century.
This also relates to, for example, experimentcity and the Akademie der Kunste FeldForschungsFestival.

When, Where, and more about Why:

      WHEN:   Between 12:30 and 2 p.m.
The celebration of the public opening of the Tempelhof Field is all weekend,
The International Kiteflyers Meeting is all SUNDAY  At 2 p.m. some of us will go "next door" to visit the already existing inter-cultural garden, the "Pyramidengarten"
     WHERE: See  "AVA HERE " in map below.
We will be in sight of the Information Booth inside the Columbia Damm entrance near the inter-cultural garden, "Pyramiedengarten".
(Bus 104, "Friedhof" stop on Columbia Damm)
Northern edge of the field, in the middle there, near Gastronomy and WC.
Landmarks: Near the baseball field (and where the Berlin Airlift "Rosinenbomber" used to be parked) and the mosque.

map of Templehof Field sites


Also to mark the spot we will be flying, or trying to fly, kites as pictured below in cooperation with the inter-cultural garden folks.
One picture was taken while flying a German-Turkish kite from within the garden. We will also have a large American-Indian kite which, if we are successful, will be holding aloft a red, white and blue "VoteFromAbroad.org" banner. 

German-Turkish Kite  American-Indian kite+

One of the motivations for WHY some of us Americans living abroad in Berlin are doing this event is to grow our inter-cultural contacts.
There may be many cultural differences, but there is one sky, one common atmosphere on this planet.

Thinking and acting locally and globally about the cultural climate and the physical climate is a challenge.
In Berlin there is a growing network of inter-cultural gardens where people are, among other things, helping to enrich the soil and improve the cultural climate.

Physically, the Tempelhof Field is large and has a big effect on air circulation and the physical climate in Berlin. As a huge area of downtown Berlin, opening it opens significant potentials for affecting living conditions in urban Berlin going on into the 21st century.

Work creating activities on the field, the planning and implementation of uses affecting urban living, will take a long time -- one decision that has been made: the Tempelhof Field will be the location for the International Garden Exhibition (Internationale Garten Ausstellung, IGA ) in 2017.

The field already has a long history, including "Utopian" flights of fantasy during The Cold War -- see the sketch below from January 1989, as the paranoia was being taken down shortly BEFORE The Wall in Berlin was taken down. This was created by a local citizens initiative "BurgerInitiative Flughaffen Tempelhof" (BIFT), by Manfred Hermann and many others,


Templehof1989utopia
 
This was scanned from "Berlin Zivil" ("Civil Berlin"), a booklet about the conversion of military facilities to civilian use in West Berlin and East Berlin (6% of the land in Berlin) finally published in 1990.
That was an international publishing project dating from 1985 initiated in the context of "Turning Swords into Plowshares" by West Germans and East Germans, and a US citizen, David MacBryde. (Author's note, by David MacBryde: The reader may well imagine my delight, after so many years, to experience the current celebration actually opening the Tempelhof Field for practical transformation.)

The workshop on the field on May 9th also relates to the EXPERIMENTCITY  and Berlin 21 research festival on May 14th and 15th 2010 at the Academy of Art and in the internet with a blog station
and challengingly titled "Disappearing Diversity", researching and working on changes in urban living going on into the 21st Century.

Disappearing Diversity Blog Station

The communications technology for that event will be operated from a transformed circus wagon from the intercity Wagon Town "Lohmüle" that will be parked at the Academy of Art by the Brandenburg Gate on Pariser Platz.
That wagon town was started during the cold war on a strip of "no mans land" between the two Berlins and as a place then to explore alternative urban living styles.
Now, initiated by the Academy of Art, many Berlin initiatives and institutions are working on ways to face multiple issues about quality of life and urban living going on into the 21st Century at a time of multiple economic, environmental and social crises.
Transforming the Tempelhof Field is only one focus, if a physically large one, for creating future urban living conditions.

Personal disclosure by the author: One of my motivations is that I am a new senior citizen, newly "retired"  -- with little money, but lots of time. So I am exploring potentials for "cheep thrills" -- inexpensive ways to enjoy the short rest of my life. So I have time to philosophize, to read (for example the Nobel Prize winner Albert Camus), and to find ways to enjoy and be creative in valuing my available time.
Given my retirement and limited money, I am most interested in finding and developing those kinds of economical activities for which it is true that, as Leonard Nimoy, aka Dr. Spock, often said. "the more you share the more you have". There are many philosophical and practical issues for seniors, and for us all, as we move on into the 21st Century.

The motivation for the workshop on the field is to raise kites and to raise questions about living in Berlin, and help prepare for the very large events on May 14th and 15th.