OUBEYs “Joy of Insight” Was a Feast of Joyful Discovery

The Berlin exhibition of the OUBEY Global Encounters Tour from 21-23 March really overtopped all expectations. Over 400 guests came alone for the opening night on 21 March at the Berlin Direktorenhaus.

“This is a milestone for OUBEY MINDKISS” said Dagmar Woyde-Koehler, the initiator of the OUBEY MINDKISS project and director of the Global Encounters Tour. “The concept we’ve evolved is a totally new and unparalleled way of bringing art to people and spreading the joy of discovery – which is such a strong element in OUBYs art – across the whole world. The first two stopovers in San Francisco and Berlin have clearly shown that we’re on the right track which is leading us to places we never knew before. And that really is exciting!”

In the Direktorenhaus’s packed movie theater, she greeted Prof. Dr. Peter Kruse as the special guest and key note speaker of the evening together with that lucky number of guests who’d managed to secure standing room only!

“The increasing complexity and dynamism of our world makes it pretty evident that the traditional types of decision-making processes used by leaders in government and business have now reached their limits.” argued Prof. Dr. Peter Kruse in his brilliant and entertaining introductory talk.“What we now need are free-ranging inquiring spirits like OUBEY who are capable of giving dynamic complexity a recognizable shape.”

His talk put its finger on one of the fundamental issues of our times and was followed with keen interest by the attentive audience in the movie theater. It provided a rich smogasbord of talking points for further animated discussions in the course of the evening.

“OUBEY grants us insights into the mind of a man who travels between two worlds” wrote the leading Berlin broadsheet Der Tagesspiegel in its review lof 23 March, linking in what Prof. Kruse said in his keynote address.

The eight original works on view in Berlin were framed on both sides by sets of headphones and screens which showed the companion Encounter Videos for each painting. Dagmar Woyde-Koehler filmed these videos on her travels with OUBEYs paintings throughout the world, and posted them on the internet.

“The Encounters show that you don’t have to be an art expert to fall under the spell of OUBEYs paintings. There’s a timeless quality about them that we all find moving” wrote the critic from Der Tagesspiegel at the end of her glowing review.

A short documentary showing the background work that goes into setting up an Encounter and all the logistics involved before an Encounter Video finally goes online was also premiered in Berlin.OUBEY Encounters – The Journey is now on the internet and can be viewed by clicking here. Note that an English version of this video will be released in May. It will be made available here.

Berlin visitors also had the opportunity of making their own personal encounter before the camera with an unknown painting by OUBEY standing veiled in a separate room. It was an opportunity eagerly seized by a great many visitors including children from two school classes who visited the exhibition. The videos from this set of Open Encounters will go online in 2014.

Not the least of the delightful surprises was the unexpected flying visit of the Governing Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit to the exhibition.

“I am impressed and deeply moved, and only now that I’ve had the chance to see some of OUBEYs paintings in the original for the very first time can I understand what MINDKISS really means” one visitor commented as she was leaving. And she certainly wasn’t alone in her opinion!