Roland Stelter (born in Berlin in 1953) is a German author, visual artist and designer.
Education Stelter grew up in the Wedding area of Berlin. His mother was a seamstress and his father owned a small corner store. He attended the Diesterweg Gymnasium where he studied art and design under Horst Henschel. He then studied sociology under Professor Urs Jaeggi at the Free University of Berlin, earning a master's degree. At the Berlin University of the Arts in Berlin in the 1980s, he studied life drawing under Professor Peter Müller. Stelter has also worked as a newspaper boy, a packer, a gardener, a house painter and as a labourer in the metal and construction industries. Since the 1970s he managed cultural exchange projects. He also worked as an academic tutor for Professor Wolfgang Fritz Haug at the Free University Berlin.
Cultural and political activities In the 1980s Stelter wrote for the arts sections of Berlin newspapers such as Berliner Extradienst, Die Neue and die Tageszeitung. He was CEO and editor-in-chief of the cultural journal omnibus published by the Akademie der Künste in Berlin, the Hochschule der Künste, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Berliner Schaubühne, the Freunde der Deutschen Kinemathek and other major West Berlin cultural institutions. In the 1990s Stelter worked as a designer, content manager and copywriter for advertising agencies. In the late 1990s he was head of public relations for Germany's largest city planner at that time, the development agency Bornstedter Feld. Stelter co-founded the Galerie Augustus in the Mitte area of Berlin in beginning of the 1990s. The gallery exhibited the works of artists such as Kerstin Grimm, Melanie Manchot, Martin Parr, Eva Rubinstein, Ransome Stanley and Emilio Vedova. Stelter also participated in the launch and organisation of many other cultural and political projects while continuing to work as an author, journalist, painter, sculptor and photographer. In 1983 he co-founded the 'Aktives Museum Faschismus und Widerstand in Berlin', serving together with Heinz Schilling as deputy chairman of the board of executives under Gerhard Schoenberner. He was one of the founders of the major project "1933–1983". The project was the first to bring together all of West Berlin's democratically oriented political groups for a critical re-evaluation of the Nazi period in Germany. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1993, he launched the major project 'Upheaval – Chaos and Hope' ('Umbruch – Chaos und Hoffnung') with the support of the Senate of Berlin and the Treuhand, among others. His experiences with the "new Europe" were the inspiration of his international exhibition project 'My Europe' ('Mein Europa'), ongoing since the year 2000.
Reception June Carolyn Erlick wrote about the project Umbruch – Chaos und Hoffnung in the New York magazine ARTnews in October 1993:June Carolyn Erlick: Besprechung des Projekt Umbruch – Chaos und Hoffnung in her article Knocking Down the Invisible Wall, in New York ARTnews Magazin, October 1993
Ulrich Roloff-Momin, Senator for Cultural Affairs Berlin, in the preface to the catalog "Umbruch – Chaos und Hoffnung" ("Upheaval – Chaos and Hope" [transl.]). Berlin 1993:Ulrich Roloff-Momin, Senator für kulturelle Angelegenheit des Landes Berlin, in »Grußwort« zum Buchkatalog »Umbruch – Chaos und Hoffnung«. Berlin 1993
Karen E. Till‚ The New Berlin. Memory, Politics, Place. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis 2005:Karen E. Till. The New Berlin. Memory, Politics, Place. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis 2005
Work as a visual artist Roland Stelter has worked primarily as an author, painter, sculptor and photographer since the 1990s. His painting, drawing and sculpture are strongly influenced by post-war abstract modernism. Stelter met Emilia Vedova in the early 1990s. He and Vedova both participated in group exhibitions in the Galerie Augustus in Berlin and the Yavneh Art Workshop Gallery in Israel. Stelter's photography strictly follows the principles of classical composition. He typically uses only natural light and avoids effects. Stelter's work has been included in numerous exhibitions in Germany and around the world. He collaborated with Lutz Dölle on the prize-winning, large-scale sculpture 'Fragment des Regens' ('Fragment of Rain'). He collaborated with a biotechnology company in 1999 to create an exhibit on genetic engineering that included paintings, large-scale photographs and a video installation. His photography and text exhibition 'Ms Zhuk and her granddaughter' ('Frau Zhuk und ihre Enkelin') was shown in the 'Topography of Terror – documentation center forced labor memorial' in Berlin ('Topographie des Terrors – Dokumentationszentrum NS-Zwangsarbeit') from fall of 2010 until summer of 2011. The exhibition was about the life of Ms Zhuk, a Ukrainian survivor of Nazi forced labour and concentration camps who was persecuted by the KGB after her return. Large-scale sculptures by Stelter stand in the American Academy of Berlin's private park and in the city centre of Osnabrück.
Following his wish, to show political responsibility as an artist, he carried out the photo exhibition «Memories of Europe« in the Chernigov Art Museum M. Galagan in Ukraine in 2014.
In 2015 the mayor of Potsdam, the minister of science, research and culture in Brandenburg, the Armenian ambassador to Germany, the representative of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation of Berlin-Brandenburg, and the publicist Rolf Hosfeld inaugurated Roland Stelter's marble sculpture "Civil Courage." The sculpture memorializes Johannes Lepsius, and "symbolizes the commitment to civil action against genocide and war crimes." (Jan Jacobs, mayor of Potsdam). It was placed in the park of the Lepsius Villa in Potsdam, in the former military zone No. 7 where the KGB was based in the GDR, now the home of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation of Berlin-Brandenburg. The location is also within a UNESCO world heritage site including a former KGB prison, the Neuer Garten park with the castle Cecilienhof where the Potsdam Conference was held in August 1945, the Belvedere of Sanssouci castle, and the Villa Henkel.
Reception The artery magazine about Roland Stelter's paintings and sculptures: [Gemälde und Steinskulpturen von Roland Stelter" ("Painting and stone sculptures by Roland Stelter" [transl.]), in artery June 1994]Gemälde und Steinskulpturen von Roland Stelter, in: artery im Juni 1994
Peter Herbstreuth wrote in the Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel [in: Der Tagesspiegel on 4 July 1994]:Peter Herbstreuth in: Der Tagesspiegel vom 4. Juli 1994
Tom Bullman in the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung on the public sculpture 'Fragment des Regens' ('Fragment of Rain' [transl.])., May 8, 1999:Tom Bullman in Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung to Großskulptur Fragment des Regens, 8 May 1999
Simone Reber in the radio transmission "Galerie Rundgang" for Radio Kultur of SFB and ORB about the photo exhibition "Mythos Moscow" by Roland Stelter in the Gallery Blickensdorf Berlin, April 24, 2001:Simone Reber: »Galerie Rundgang« in Radio Kultur of SFB and ORB to the photo exhibition »Mythos. Moskau« of Roland Stelter in the Galerie Blickensdorf Berlin, 24 April 2001
Klaus Jörg Schönmetzler, Rosenheim's cultural attaché, said in a speech at the Galerie's Christmas exhibition of the 'Gallery of the Kunst und Kultur zu Hohenaschau e.V.' in 2008:Roland Stelter: Press voices to the work
Julia Brodauf. 'Frau Zhuk und ihre Enkelin' ('Ms. Zhuk and her granddaughter' [transl.]), in: magazine 'Junge Kunst', Nr. 86, June 2011:Junge Kunst, Nr. 86, June 2011
Bogdan Gulyay in the Ukrainian internet magazine „Gorod.cn.ua – Portal Tschernigova (Portal Çernigova)" at August 10, 2014 about the Open Air – Vernissage of the exhibition «Memories of Europe« by Roland Stelter of the Art Museum Chernigov M. Galagan, Ukraine:
Krikor Amirzayan wrote: "On April 28, 2015, in the heart of the Johannes Lepsius house museum in Potsdam (Germany), the inauguration of a work by the German sculptor Roland Stelter was held... A number of prominent figures attended the inaugural ceremony. Among them were the mayor of Potsdam Jan Jacobs, the director of the Johannes Lepsius museum Rolf Hosfeld and the Armenian ambassador to Germany Achot Sempadian." The Focus magazine wrote: "A new monument in Potsdam memorializes the theologian Johannes Lepsius... The German minister Sabine Kunst (SPD) reminded the audience that civil courage begins with the individual... The German government at the time partially enabled these deportations and massacres by tolerating them and looking the other way."
The mayor of Potsdam Jan Jacobs in his address at the inauguration of the sculpture "Civil Courage":The mayor of Potsdam Jan Jacobs in his address at the inauguration of the sculpture "Civil Courage" by Roland Stelter on 28.4.2015, press release of the city of Potsdam on 28.04.2015, published on the official city of Potsdam website in April/May 2015
Isabel Fannrich-Lautenschläger:Isabel Fannrich-Lautenschläger. "Mit Blessuren durchs Leben", in "Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten". 29.04.2015
Stephan Laude:Stephan Laude "Ehrung eines Couragierten. Marmorstele erinnert an den Menschenrechtler Johannes Lepsius", in: Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung. 29. 04.2015
Literary work Besides publishing cultural and political articles and essays, Stelter has also written short stories. In 2005 Rotbuch Verlag published his debut novel, Leons Bruder, set during the turbulent times following the end of the Cold War. In recent years he has been working on a second novel about the consequences of the upheaval in the 1990s, particularly for the future. He has participated in the Berlin International Literature Festival, such as when he gave a reading from his novel Leons Bruder or when he took part in the 24-hour global live online reading Authors for Peace on September 21, 2010, the United Nations 'International Day of Peace'.
Reception Tanja Hellwig writes in her article "Sex und Politik im Kalten Krieg" ("Sex and Politics in the Cold War") about the novel Leons Bruder, in: Südkurier, June, 28th, 2005:Tanja Hellwig: Sex und Politik im Kalten Krieg, Südkurier from 28 June 2005
Hanno Depner in the catalogue of the 5th International Literature Festival, Berlin 2005:Hanno Depner: reception of Leons Bruder. Roman einer Zeitenwende. In: Katalog des 5. Internationalen Literaturfestivals, Berlin 2005
Work as a designer and lecturer Besides working as an author, visual artist and designer, Stelter has also served periodically since 2010 as an adjunct professor of photography, design and professional writing at Webster University Vienna and in Amsterdam/Leiden. Together with his son Julian Stelter he ran the agency and international platform 'forum bmp – communication design art in international partnership' (2010–2016). In a nature reserve in the north-eastern part of Germany he restored in cooperation with his son Benjamin Stelter an ensemble of listed buildings from 18th and 19th century and designed it for the purpose of modern living and working.
Stelter has lived for extended periods in the United States, France and Russia. He has two grown sons from his first marriage. He currently lives in Berlin.
Works Exhibitions (selection) Commerzbank, Berlin: Sales of paintings for interior decoration to Commerzbank, Berlin, 1991 Gallery Augustus Berlin: Exhibition of drawings, paintings, and sculptures, 1992 Yavneh Art Workshop Gallery, Israel: Participation in a group exhibition with Richard Long, Emilio Vedova, Tom Wesselmann, et al., 1993 Gallery Augustus Berlin: Participation in a group exhibition with drawings, paintings, and sculptures, 1995 Gallery in Samambaia, Paris: Exhibition "Dessins Paris-Berlin", 1996 Métissage Festival, Paris: Exhibition of bronze sculptures, 1996 Goethe Institute, Paris: Artist's web site portrait of Roland Stelter, 1998