Bernd Zimmer - Columns - Pillars of our time
For more than 30 years, painter Bernd Zimmer has been pursuing the idea of the STOA169. More than 100 international artists each design a column for a “Wandelhalle”, in which the individually designed columns carry a common roof. A symbol for international understanding, respect, diversity and shared responsibility – an archive of our time.
The construction succeeds, despite the difficult planning phase, local resistance, and the organizational challenge of an internationally coordinated construction in the Corona pandemic – shortly after the start of construction in February 2020, the first lockdown begins.
“Columns – Pillars of Time” is a documentary series with six episodes of 52 minutes each. It tells the story of the Columned Hall from the publication of the idea in February 2019 to the opening of STOA169 in fall 2021.
The series follows Bernd Zimmer and his team, as well as selected artists and craftsmen, through the three-year construction process. They describe their experiences between art and covid-19.
The documentary series spans an arc from the consequences of a global pandemic to the democratic symbolism of the Columned Hall and the motives of the individual artists in the design of their respective columns.
It is about art, and it is about people. The camera team accompanies the processes on location and in countries such as Kyrgyzstan, Ghana, Polynesia, Georgia and the USA.