Drawings from Our History // Zeichnungen aus unserer Geschichte
Most of the characters in the painting are drawn from Jeanne Mammen’s paintings she made in the 1920s and 1930s. I imagined if they were to be walking down the street and encountered the art making station. Would they join, would they linger, would they grab materials to take home? Would they recognize me as queer and one of them? Would they see themselves in the work and be happy with how they are remembered? I think about the ghosts of the queer people who walk alongside me, and the ability that I have to make art with a pride flag in the open that people before did not have. In my routes through the city on the way to the Jewish Library I frequently pass by the gedenktafel for Mammen. I am greatly inspired in my own art by her work and how she connected with the subjects and atmosphere of queer bars in Berlin. Her illustrations in watercolor of lesbian spaces and nightclubs is proof that we as LGBT people have existed throughout time in very similar ways of loving and looking. It is an honor to collaborate with the Aktives museum for this event in September, and I am excited to see what will blossom from the encounters with the stream of people down the boulevard
On September 1, 2026 Hani Portner will facilitate this ephemeral outdoor studio drawing from their own experiences as a queer artist, and celebrating the images of queer life of the Weimar Republic captured in Mammen’s works.
Join us for a special creative journey in remembering the queer artist Jeanne Mammen outside her studio with a temporary art making station and gallery. Together we will learn about Mammen’s life and techniques of watercolor and pencil sketching, taking motifs from her artworks and discovering our own inspiration and subjects along Kurfürstendamm. Participants and passerbys are encouraged to pick up paper, paint and brushes and sit for a few minutes to an hour creating artwork in the shade of the sycamore trees and afterwards display them under the Gedenktafel.
All materials needed to create your own masterpiece will be provided for free such as paper, watercolors, paintbrushes, pens, and drawing boards. Any experience levels and ages are welcomed to participate.
When? Tuesday, September 1, 2026
17:00-18:30
Drop in as you would like
Where? Jeanne Mammen Gedenktafel
Kurfürstendamm 29
You can reach the location via the U Uhlandstraße U-Bahn station or by bus (stop: U Uhlandstraße).
Accessibility note: The workshop will be in English with German supplemental information. No German Sign Language interpretation (DGS) is planned, but printed material will be available to read. Various sizes of paintbrushes and pens are available for different hand sizes and mobility needs. The event lasts 90 minutes and takes place on the sidewalk in front of the building. There will be limited seating available in the form of pop up stools. There are places to sit in the green area of the street. The nearest public restroom is located at S+U Zoological Garten a 15 minute walk away. There is an elevator at the U Uhlandstraße U-Bahn station.
In collaboration with the Aktives museum’s Zwischen den Zeilen der Stadt project.
Mycelium Memory 