hotel annelie

The exhibition HOTEL ANNELIE turns towards a rare image of modern Germany the meaning of which far exceeds its geographical boundaries. Media artist and director Tito Lee happened to be living next to a hostel, Hotel Annelie in Munich which offered modest accommodation for homeless people, small time crooks, junkies and social outsiders. His insights show the gulf between real poverty and Germany’s commonly known affluence. Over the period of several years he was working incessantly in this neighbourhood and, incorporating the inhabitants of Annelie, completed the multi-media art project called HOTEL ANNELIE.


Using various forms of expression, he photographed, videotaped, collected objects, soundbites and set up performances using the inhabitants as living material. He produced a documentary, „Mixuga“, on a transsexual truck driver named Laura, and invited artists such as German photographer Martin Fengel, graffiti artist Eduard Stork and filmmaker Chris Valentien to work with him in these precarious surroundings. And finally he realized the feature film ANNELIE, which premiered in Busan, Korea and makes up the biggest part of this ‚Gesamtkunstwerk’.


His goal is simple and of universal value: ‚Hotel Annelie’ gives insight into a section of German reality, archiving and conserving conditions in a world faced with its demise. The hostel gives shelter to a wide spectrum of misfits who have formed a second level society, an unconnected subdivision with its own functioning community spirit. This small part of Germany seems to coexist independently next to its well-to-do big brother, and yet is part of the larger whole. The show examines the social landscape of a questionable subculture with scrutiny and a knowing smile, discovering a showcase of our human existence.


Dr. Clarence Cook Jr.

Human remains
Adding glamour to the poverty of Annelie‘s inhabitants by wearing masks from Japanese Kabuki Theatre (also used by the band Kiss) is an attempt to confront different perceptions of one reality.
Originally the term ‚glamour‘ was used in occult practices. A spell cast on someone could make a person believe in magical ability, inducing more interpersonal attraction. Today glamour serves as the impression of attraction - a fascination caused by a luxurious and elegant appearance, an impression which is better than reality.
The exhibition
The exhibition ‚Hotel Annelie‘ explores the symmetrical relationship between architecture and humans in an era Tito Lee calls “post Annelie life”. Built as a hotel, the purpose of the building changed over the years and has come to dominate the life of its resident in an asymmetrical way. Today the artist plays with that subject trying to reestablish symmetrical relationships by mounting giant portraits onto fassades, thus blending the image of man with architecture, trying to dominate public space with these characters.

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. - Luke 6:20

The ‚godfather of neoconservatism‘, Author Irving Kristol reasons ‚for those who are experiencing a Christian impulse, an impulse toward Imitatio Christi which could lean toward socialism (...) is the attitude of Christianity toward the poor‘. The strong relationship between early Christianity and poverty makes churches the right place for this show.

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The Movie
The feature film ‚Annelie‘ was recieved by an enthusiastic audience and overwhelmed critics at film festivals across the globe. The movie is an important part of the the exhibition and should ideally be screened at cinemas near the venue. In order to underline the event character of the show public space between the cinema and the gallery should also be used for installations. Visitors strolling between the premises will experience the all-pervasive presence of ‚Hotel Annelie‘s‘ topic.
...a mean, heart-wrenching scoundrel’s tale full of outlandish humor.
But "Annelie" tells the story of all this real horror with radical impertinence and with rock ’n’ roll energy, making this film the truly outstanding experience of this year’s Hof International Film Festival.

Spiegel

The Movie is one unpredictable bulldozer.
At the Solothurn Film Festival, the big premieres failed to live up to the expectations they had created. Instead, they were trumped by small feature films such as Antej Farac’s “Annelie.”

Berner Zeitung

“Annelie” is a work of docu-fiction based on Farac’s observations, which does not expose its protagonists, but instead, awakens sympathy for them. It is a look inside the tough milieu and it has a tragic, almost fairy-tale like ending. A highlight of the 46th Hof International Film Festival.

Abendzeitung

One critical strike!
...Strong, rough and sophisticated at the same time.

Cine 21

This is a gutsy film, which brings some color and rock ’n’ roll to Swiss filmmaking. “Annelie” is different. Courageous, cumbersome and polarizing. It gets on your nerves and hits you in your gut. But it won’t leave anyone indifferent. It is a radical, hard-hitting film.

Bieler Tagblatt

But it was another filmmaker who showed us real people with genuine impact: this was Antej Farac with his film “Annelie.”
This hard-hitting film feels like a cross between Ulrich Seidl and “Trainspotting”.

Der Bund

NEWS ABOUT ANNELIE FACEBOOK VISIT
Post Occidental Iconography

The exhibition has a futuristic perspective where the demise of the Western World has been a part of history for a long time. The residents of HOTEL ANNELIE have become the icons of poverty reminding us of the beginning of this global upheaval.


The exhibition is designed to present in economically emerging regions. Depicting the hidden poverty of former economic miracle Germany reflects and questions how power balance between the old and the new world is changing.

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”

says Psalm 23, which serves as a basis for this part of the exhibition. The 23 light boxes were operated with solar collectors installed on the roof of the Church of Brother Klaus in Biel.

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The sculpture "FIRST AID" consists of the bed part of a deceased junkie and a first aid kit box. The cross-shaped box is filled with various addictive substances that were secured in the house.
Video art installation "KIM HOCH". The apple with a bite taken out of it in Apple logo is not only a sign for religion of certain techies, but it also represents sin. The MacBook was confi scated by the police together with the stolen car tires as evidence at the time of the arrest of Kim's older brother.
“ANTI-GRAVITY IN ANNELIE BELOW” detail: Video art projection on the baptismal font in church shows the premises in which the protagonist "Kim" actually came into the world.