“A stutter… can be a musical instrument,” says JJJJJerome Ellis, a composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and author from Norfolk, Virginia. Ellis speaks with a glottal block stutter, which manifests as involuntary pauses in speech. In his artistic practice, this interruption becomes compositional material: Pauses, repetitions, and extended silences fracture linearity, reorder time, and open space for a more patient, attentive form of listening.
 
Working across performance, sound, text, and improvisation, Ellis draws on free jazz, contemporary composition, musique concrète, gospel, and environmental music. Saxophone, organ, dulcimer, electronics, and voice converge in an ongoing exploration of Blackness, stuttering speech, time, and the natural world.
 
For Haus am Waldsee, Ellis is developing a musical performance that moves between the garden and the interior spaces of the house. The plants, textures, and acoustic conditions of the site are woven into an open composition shaped by the interplay of sound and silence, presence and interruption.

* Tickets include admission to our current exhibition Wo ich wohne

Haus am Waldsee is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year. On Family Sunday, we visit the exhibition Wo ich wohne (Where I live) and explore how artists have engaged with the history of the house. For inspiration we will pay special attention to the ceramic works by Nigin Beck. Afterwards, you can set off to explore the garden and look closely: What traces, textures and patterns can you spot? What makes this place special? Using modelling clay, you can make imprints of the shapes you’ve discovered and create your own sculptures, plates, or bowls, which you can then paint and varnish in bright colours.

Max. 20 people. Ages 4 and up, accompanied by parents.

*Free ticket for children under 18. The ticket includes admission to the exhibition.
Booking information: A maximum of 2 tickets for adults and 4 tickets for children can be booked per transaction. For larger groups, we kindly ask you to make multiple bookings.

Facilitated by: Luise Bichler

Note on accessibility:

Dear visitors,
Haus am Waldsee has limited accessibility. If you have any questions about accessibility on Family Sunday, please email us at: vermittlung@hausamwaldsee.de. We will do our best to find solutions for your visit!

Jo Pistorius, Curatorial Assistant, will guide you through the anniversary exhibition Wo ich wohne. Admission is included in the exhibition ticket.

Accompanying the exhibition Wo ich wohne, artists Ian Waelder and Richard Venlet come together in a conversation to discuss their contributions to the show, and their practice more broadly. The often overlooked fact that buildings, and their particular atmospheres and histories are always an essential part of our experience of an exhibition is being pushed to the forefront by both Waelder and Venlet, who often employ architectural means to frame their own work as well as the work of others. Amidst this show, which self-consciously thematizes the architecture of the institution as a form of a score and tests its efficacy long after its original occupation, the conversation will circle around the independence of the artwork, how porous it can be for context, and what it means to exhibit on sites with a predominant history. The talk is moderated by Anna Gritz, Director of the Haus am Waldsee, together with co-curator Pia-Marie Remmers.

* Tickets include admission to the exhibition.

The exhibition is open until 7 pm. Please arrive a little earlier, if you would like to visit the exhibition before the talk. The café is open throughout the evening. Please note that the Gartensaal will be closed from 5.30 pm for the preparation of the event.

Children, families and anyone interested are invited to attend the Drop-In Workshop and create their own pictures of Haus am Waldsee. Using illustrations of the building as inspiration, you can paint and make collages based on your own ideas. What art should be shown in the garden and inside the rooms? Who visits the house, and who might live here?

To celebrate the 80th anniversary of Haus am Waldsee, you can learn about the house’s history, its previous residents and past exhibitions, and create images of  your own vision of the place. Drop in at any time during the session and get creative!

No booking necessary.

Beatrice Hilke, Curator, will guide you through the anniversary exhibition Wo ich wohne. Admission is included in the exhibition ticket.

Songs of Erosion is a project by Clara Levy and Victor Guaita Igual that offers a contemporary reinterpretation of the Cantigas de Santa María. This expansive collection from late 13th-century Spain comprises 420 songs, along with legends, historical accounts, medicinal remedies, and scenes of courtly love. The musicians treat this manuscript—straddling the sacred and the popular—as an archaeological artifact, interpreting it through a set of instructions inspired by the geological process of erosion. Among the Cantigas explored by the duo, Songs of Erosion focuses on two, articulated through the concepts of sedimentation and landslide: With Alluvium, the musicians reflect on repetition as a process of both sedimentation and renewal, while Landslide offers a haunting take on instability as a generative force. Designed as a collaborative and evolving space, the project explores different scales of time – geological, biological, historical, and musical –, as it asks: what is left of these 800 years old songs?

Duration: 60 minutes (without intermission)

Clara Levy, violin
Victor Guaita Igual, alto
Clara Levy & Victor Guaita Igual, Songs of Erosion

Since 2024, the concert series Kantione presents new forms of classical music at Haus am Waldsee. Organised by Eleni Poulou.

* Please note: The event takes places in the studio on the 2nd floor. Access to the studio is not barrier-free and can only be reached via stairs. The 1st floor can also be reached by lift (please inform the ticket office). If you have any questions regarding accessibility, please write to: info@hausamwaldsee.de. We will do our best to find a solution for your visit!

Children, families and anyone interested are invited to attend the Drop-In Workshop and create their own pictures of Haus am Waldsee. Using illustrations of the building as inspiration, you can paint and make collages based on your own ideas. What art should be shown in the garden and inside the rooms? Who visits the house, and who might live here?

To celebrate the 80th anniversary of Haus am Waldsee, you can learn about the house’s history, its previous residents and past exhibitions, and create images of  your own vision of the place. Drop in at any time during the session and get creative!

No booking necessary.