DAS KINO PROJEKT (The Cinema Project)
Das Kino Projekt, by the artists Franziska Pierwoß and Siska, is a traveling movie theater screening an archive of amateur analog film, on Super 8 and 16mm, side by side with video works from international visual artists and filmmakers. It is an on-site installation investing in new and temporary locations as it travels from one city to another. Following in-depth research of the respective city’s cinema history, the Kino takes on the name of a former movie theatre that was closed down, demolished, or transformed. Since 2009, Kino Projekt has undertaken extensive research and screenings in various cities, reviving and documenting lost cinema spaces. Das Kino Projekt explores the intersection of capitalism and culture, examining how economic forces influence artistic spaces, dismantling independent entities and converting them into commercialized complexes, such as cinema theaters. A central focus of the project is amateur film archives, the practice of archiving, and the concept of cinema's afterlife. It draws parallels between film and archaeology, questioning where our role begins as archivists, artists, and curators. Through this lens, the Kino Projekt not only revives lost cinema spaces but also interrogates the ephemeral nature of cultural memory.
Since 2009, Das Kino Projekt has undertaken extensive research and screenings in various cities, reviving and documenting lost cinema spaces. The journey began in Beirut with Kino Vendôme in 2009, followed by Kino Skarpa in Warsaw in 2010, and Kino Adriano in Naples in 2011, where research and screenings were conducted. In the same year, the project reached Aleppo with Kino Al Amir, but the research was discontinued due to the Syrian conflict. Similarly, in 2012, Kino Al Kawakeb in Tripoli, Lebanon, faced the same fate, while Kino Vendôme Salle 2 in Beirut successfully hosted research and screenings.
The project continued expanding across continents, with Kino Apollo in Zurich in 2013 and Kino Vendôme Salle 3 in Beirut in 2015. That same year, screenings and research were held at Kino Holly*ood in Minneapolis, while Kino Santa Fe in Los Angeles remained a research-only endeavor. In Berlin, Speise Kino (ZKU) hosted a screening in 2015, followed by Kolle Kino in Leipzig in 2016. The research then extended to Morocco with Kino Avenida in Sidi Ifni and Kino Saada in Casablanca. Further editions included Lux Kino am Dom in Cologne in 2017, which saw both research and screenings, and Saavy Contemporary’s H.T.W.B.N? Session No. 49 at Silent Green Berlin in 2018. In 2022, Kino Al-Amir in Diaspora was realized in Berlin through collaborations with Hopscotch Reading Room, Künstlerhof Frohnau and Color Club Lab as a drive-in cinema.
Das Kino Projekt, by the artists Franziska Pierwoß and Siska, is a traveling movie theater screening an archive of amateur analog film, on Super 8 and 16mm, side by side with video works from international visual artists and filmmakers. It is an on-site installation investing in new and temporary locations as it travels from one city to another. Following in-depth research of the respective city’s cinema history, the Kino takes on the name of a former movie theatre that was closed down, demolished, or transformed. Since 2009, Kino Projekt has undertaken extensive research and screenings in various cities, reviving and documenting lost cinema spaces. Das Kino Projekt explores the intersection of capitalism and culture, examining how economic forces influence artistic spaces, dismantling independent entities and converting them into commercialized complexes, such as cinema theaters. A central focus of the project is amateur film archives, the practice of archiving, and the concept of cinema's afterlife. It draws parallels between film and archaeology, questioning where our role begins as archivists, artists, and curators. Through this lens, the Kino Projekt not only revives lost cinema spaces but also interrogates the ephemeral nature of cultural memory.
Since 2009, Das Kino Projekt has undertaken extensive research and screenings in various cities, reviving and documenting lost cinema spaces. The journey began in Beirut with Kino Vendôme in 2009, followed by Kino Skarpa in Warsaw in 2010, and Kino Adriano in Naples in 2011, where research and screenings were conducted. In the same year, the project reached Aleppo with Kino Al Amir, but the research was discontinued due to the Syrian conflict. Similarly, in 2012, Kino Al Kawakeb in Tripoli, Lebanon, faced the same fate, while Kino Vendôme Salle 2 in Beirut successfully hosted research and screenings.
The project continued expanding across continents, with Kino Apollo in Zurich in 2013 and Kino Vendôme Salle 3 in Beirut in 2015. That same year, screenings and research were held at Kino Holly*ood in Minneapolis, while Kino Santa Fe in Los Angeles remained a research-only endeavor. In Berlin, Speise Kino (ZKU) hosted a screening in 2015, followed by Kolle Kino in Leipzig in 2016. The research then extended to Morocco with Kino Avenida in Sidi Ifni and Kino Saada in Casablanca. Further editions included Lux Kino am Dom in Cologne in 2017, which saw both research and screenings, and Saavy Contemporary’s H.T.W.B.N? Session No. 49 at Silent Green Berlin in 2018. In 2022, Kino Al-Amir in Diaspora was realized in Berlin through collaborations with Hopscotch Reading Room, Künstlerhof Frohnau and Color Club Lab as a drive-in cinema.
13 Feb. - 23 Feb. 2025 Berlinale 75th - 2025 Kino Arsenal
This installation is a continuation, presenting an evolving archive of Das Kino Projekt over the years—from neon signs to ticket stamps, from programs and posters to objects from the Kino Projekt archive, accumulated over time. Image by Siska
Lux Kino (am Dom) - Köln - Research material - Kino Projekt - Siska
13 Feb. - 23 Feb. 2025 Berlinale 75th - 2025 Kino Arsenal
This installation is a continuation, presenting an evolving archive of Das Kino Projekt over the years—from neon signs to ticket stamps, from programs and posters to objects from the Kino Projekt archive, accumulated over time.
Cinema Al-Amir - Aleppo - Research material - Kino Projekt - Siska
13 Feb. - 23 Feb. 2025 Berlinale 75th - 2025 Kino Arsenal
Cinema El Kawakeb - Tripoli - photoprint - Kino Projekt - Siska
KINO EDITIONS
KINO VENDOME . 2009 / BEIRUT - LEBANON
KINO SKARPA . 2010 /WARSAW - POLAND
KINO ADRIANO . 2011 / NAPLES - ITALY
KINO AL AMIR . 2011 / ALEPPO - SYRIA / RESEARCH DISCONTINUED
KINO AL KAWAKEB . 2012 / TRIPOLI - LEBANON / RESEARCH ONLY
KINO VENDOME SALLE 2 . 2012 / BEIRUT - LEBANON
KINO APOLLO . 2013 / ZURICH - SWITZERLAND
KINO VENDOME SALLE 3 . 2015 / BEIRUT - LEBANON
KINO HOLLY*OOD . 2015 / MINNEAPOLIS - USA
KINO SANTA FE . 2015 / LOS ANGELES - USA / RESEARCH ONLY
SPEISE KINO (ZKU) . 2015 BERLIN - GERMANY / SCREENING ONLY
KOLLE KINO . 2016 / LEIPZIG - GERMANY / SCREENING ONLY
KINO AVENIDA . 2016 / SIDI IFNI - MOROCCO / RESEARCH ONLY
KINO SAADA . 2016 / CASABLANCA - MOROCCO / RESEARCH ONLY
LUX KINO AM DOM . 2017 / COLOGNE - GERMANY
CINEMA AL AMIR . 2022 / BERLIN - GERMANY
Kino Projekt Stamps - All screened editions - Siska
09 Feb. - 13 Mar. 2022 / Berlin - THE KINO PROJEKT @BERLINALE Forum Expanded Exhibition. The Kino Projekt is a traveling cinema that focuses on local amateur film archive and questions of cultural memory. For the Berlinale the Kino Projekt showed a selection of its neon writings which were produced for each city the cinema visited in the past ten years. THE KINO PROJEKT is a collaboration with the performance artist Franziska Pierwoß. Photo Credit Uli Ziemons 2023
18-19-20 March 2022 / Berlin - KINO AL-AMIR Cinema in exile, exile in cinema @Hopscotch reading room / teil von Draussenstadt . Bring your car or radio, tune in sit back and enjoy the films. Cinema Al-Amir neon designed by Nancy Naser Al-Deen assisted by Siska and produced by Neonardo. Graphic design poster and leaflet by ARC Gestaltung. The technical set up and management by Wahid Al Soloh aka Squat Deluxe. The documentation of the event by Karam Ghossein. Team assitance by the Hopscotch staff.
13 Feb. - 23 Feb. 2025 Berlinale 75th - 2025 Kino Arsenal
