How can we look at historical landmarks through a contemporary lens? This is the question driving architect and artist Sergei Tchoban in his site-specific, live drawing performance at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion. His work brings together the past and the present, capturing them in ink on large rolls of paper.
Over the course of two days, Tchoban will create an evolving drawing that explores many chapters — both historical and modern — of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s life and work. His connection to Mies goes back to his childhood in St. Petersburg, where he first encountered the German Embassy, a building for which Mies was construction manager under Peter Behrens (1911–1913). Since then, Tchoban has crossed paths with Mies’s architecture many times.
As the performance unfolds, the paper will slowly fill with vivid scenes — some familiar, others mysterious. Known for a style that is both fast and calm, Tchoban draws at a rhythm that invites visitors to follow the emerging story. Like a curtain lifting, the buildings take shape, free from fixed patterns, giving the sense that the drawing could go on forever. Each performance day (Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 October) has a set duration, but the drawing’s final form will only be decided in the moment.
This project brings together two architectural generations, balancing the physical and the imaginative.
Coinciding with this Artistic Intervention, on Sunday 19 October, from 10:00 to 14:00, the Pavilion will also host Barcelona Dibuixa, a collaborative graphic jam session curated by artist Irma Arribas. This informal event focuses on improvisation and collective creativity. While Tchoban interprets the world of Mies van der Rohe through his live drawing, participants will interpret themselves – together creating a single shared drawing of the German Pavilion. The result will be a visual record of the many ways people connect with architecture, layered into one large piece composed of many different drawing actions.
Organised with: Barcelona Dibuixa
Curated by: Esenija Bannan