Deep down the city
2008
Video/silkscreen/text/photography

A project by Ulrike Bernard and Lise Chevalier

Deep down the city is a project which started in May 2008 in Istanbul/Turkey. By finding porcelain pieces on the beach of the island Heybeliada , we began to reconstruct the plates. On some of the pieces there is still the stamp of the producing country and company visible on the back.
In Berlin, there is located the head office of the royal porcelain manufactory (KPM). It was here that we brought one of the pieces to be analyzed by the experts. They found out by checking the glaze of the letters that it had been produced in the beginning of the 19 century (approximately 1814). We then began to research which german boats might have sailed into turkey at this period . The name of Admiral Karl Rudolph Bromme came up often. He was the commandant of the german governmental float at that period. With his army he supported the Greeks in the independent war against Turkey. After the greek victory in 1829 there are some notes in the log books of Admiral Bromme which describe all the legendary celebrations on board. In Greece there exists the tradition of breaking plates during festivities.
Today there is street called Brommy in Berlin which leads to the Spree. On this river is a pylon from the original bridge constructed in 1909 in homage to Admiral Bromme. It was destroyed during the 2nd world war. In the video deep down the city we are going with a rubber boat on the Spree to reach the island’s pylon and throw from there two plates into the water.

Exhibited in the Roaming Biennial of Tehran,Berlin - Belgrade 2008-2009

Deep down the city
2008
Video/silkscreen/text/photography

A project by Ulrike Bernard and Lise Chevalier

Deep down the city is a project which started in May 2008 in Istanbul/Turkey. By finding porcelain pieces on the beach of the island Heybeliada , we began to reconstruct the plates. On some of the pieces there is still the stamp of the producing country and company visible on the back.
In Berlin, there is located the head office of the royal porcelain manufactory (KPM). It was here that we brought one of the pieces to be analyzed by the experts. They found out by checking the glaze of the letters that it had been produced in the beginning of the 19 century (approximately 1814). We then began to research which german boats might have sailed into turkey at this period . The name of Admiral Karl Rudolph Bromme came up often. He was the commandant of the german governmental float at that period. With his army he supported the Greeks in the independent war against Turkey. After the greek victory in 1829 there are some notes in the log books of Admiral Bromme which describe all the legendary celebrations on board. In Greece there exists the tradition of breaking plates during festivities.
Today there is street called Brommy in Berlin which leads to the Spree. On this river is a pylon from the original bridge constructed in 1909 in homage to Admiral Bromme. It was destroyed during the 2nd world war. In the video deep down the city we are going with a rubber boat on the Spree to reach the island’s pylon and throw from there two plates into the water.

Exhibited in the Roaming Biennial of Tehran,Berlin - Belgrade 2008-2009