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Villa Aurora - Los Angeles

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Villa Aurora - Los Angeles

Villa Aurora is an artists residence and historic landmark located in the former home of exiled German-Jewish writer Lion Feuchtwanger and his wife Marta.

Villa Aurora offers a variety of public lectures, screenings and performances.

05/18/2026

🌇 Kunst für das Land kommt nach Halle! Art on Common Ground goes Halle!

Vom 29. Mai bis 8. Juni 2026 präsentieren Künstler:innen Großplakate und Installationen in der Stadt!

❓ Erkennt ihr, an welchen Orten Klaus Pockrandt die Litfaßsäule und die Fassade gestalten wird? ❓

🕵️ Die Fotos liefern jeweils zwei Hinweise 🕵️‍♀️

Entdeckt die künstlerischen Motive ab dem 29. Mai: GREAT AGAIN & Light my fire

In den beiden Arbeiten thematisiert Pockrandt tiefgreifende politische Veränderungen und setzt sich fotografisch mit der Stadt Los Angeles auseinander.

🏢

Klaus Pockrandt ist Kommunikationsdesigner und Art Director. Seit 2003 gestaltet er visuelle Kommunikation in den Bereichen Grafikdesign, Typografie, Ausstellungsgestaltung und Corporate Design und ist Mitgründer von atelier42 in Halle (Saale).
Klaus Pockrandt war 2016 Stipendiat an der Villa Aurora in Los Angeles, in Kooperation mit der Kunststiftung des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt.

⚡️Kunst für das Land⚡️

✨ 29. Mai bis 08. Juni ✨

Ein Projekt für Halle vom Verein Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House, in Kooperation mit der Kunststiftung des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt.
🌀

🌇 From May 29 to June 8, 2026 artists will present poster artworks and installations in the city!

❓ Can you guess where Klaus Pockrandt will design this poster column and the facade? ❓

🕵️ The photos provide two clues each 🕵️‍♀️

Discover the artworks from May 29 onward: GREAT AGAIN & Light my fire

In the two artworks, Pockrandt addresses profound political changes and explores the city of Los Angeles through photography.

🏢

Klaus Pockrandt is a communication designer and art director. Since 2003 his work has focused on creating visual communications across graphic design, typography, exhibition design and corporate identity. He is a co‑founder of atelier42 in Halle (Saale).
Klaus Pockrandt was the 2016 fellow at the Villa Aurora in Los Angeles, in cooperation with the Saxony-Anhalt Arts Foundation.

⚡️Art on Common Ground⚡️

✨ On view from May 29 until June 8 ✨

Grafikdesign: Pandan

Kunststiftung des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt Auswärtiges Amt

04/09/2026

We are live on air again 📻!

Episode 16 of “if the house could speak” returns to Marta Feuchtwanger’s interview with Lawrence Weschler published in 1976.
This compilation of excerpts traces her arrival in Los Angeles and the émigré community that formed around it.

Throughout, Marta’s account remains grounded in logistics and memory: securing housing, arranging transport, managing finances, and maintaining working relationships under unstable conditions. The result is a portrait of exile not as abstraction, but as a series of decisions, negotiations, and daily adjustments.

📼
The excerpts heard in this episode were compiled from tapes 17, 22 and 23, courtesy of the UCLA Department of Special Collections.

All historic images are from the University of Southern California Lion Feuchtwanger papers digital library.

Image 1: Marta Feuchtwanger dispatching a rattlesnake, late 1970s.

Image 2: Marta Feuchtwanger passport picture late 1930s.

Image 3: Marta Feuchtwanger on her balcony in 1977.

Episode 16 of if the house could speak will be broadcast on a loop for 24 hours, starting Thursday, April 9 at 12 PM Pacific Daylight Time.
For our listeners across the world, that corresponds to 7 PM Coordinated Universal Time and 9 PM Middle European Time.
Tune in on KFQM, 101.5 FM in the Pacific Palisades and online at LOOKOUT FM.

03/27/2026

Throwback to the Oscar weekend in Los Angeles ✨

On the morning before the Oscars, filmmakers, partners, and friends gathered at our annual Pre-Oscar reception at The Wende Museum to celebrate this year’s Oscar nominees from Germany.
Many thanks to The Wende Museum for hosting and to all our partners for making this special morning possible.

Congratulations to all nominees!🎬

✨Komplizenfilm:
Jonas Dornbach, Janine Jackowski & Maren Ade – for SENTIMENTAL VALUE (9 nominations)
Komplizen Film

✨One Two Films: Sol Bondy & Fred Burle – for THE SECRET AGENT (4 nominations) One Two Films

✨Max Richter (Best Original Score for HAMNET) Max Richter

✨Michael Ralla & Guido Wolter (Best VFX for SINNERS) Michael Ralla + Guido Wolter

✨Rise FX (Best VFX for THE LOST BUS) RISE | Visual Effects Studios

✨MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN (Best Documentary Feature) David Borenstein

✨inselfilm produktion: Gregor Streiber & Friedemann Hottenbacher & Nadja Smith – (Best Documentary Feature for CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS) Inselfilm Produktion / Karim Sebastian Elias

The Wende Museum
Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg
German Films
German Consulate General Los Angeles
The Academy

Photos: Aaron Perez

03/12/2026

All fifteen episodes of “if the house could speak”, our broadcast series with LOOKOUT FM, are available for you in the archive.
Check out any or all of the past shows while we gear up to resume broadcasts on April 9th!

Listen to LOOKOUT FM and find the archive here: https://lookout.fm/if-the-house

02/13/2026

Live now with episode 14 of “if the house could speak” on https://lookout.fm!

Our Time Is Now�
A Guest in Native America�- Genoël von Lilienstern

In this epsiode, composer Genoël von Lilienstern traces a spiral around Villa Aurora, situated on the land of the Tongva First Nation. At various stations along the way, he recalls impressions and encounters with present-day Native American life in the region of Yaanga, now known as Los Angeles.

He travels into the desert to hear the Bird Songs of the Cahuilla in Morongo, and to the reservation of the Navajo Diné Nation to learn what it means for a Native American language to have survived and to still be spoken in everyday life.

At the Kuruvungna springs, one of the last sacred springs of the Tongva, Tongva elder Jula gives Genoël a clapper stick and tells him his totem animal is probably a coyote.

During a concert at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, he speaks with the son of Tongva Chief Morales about Mozart.

A compilation of original recordings, collected and archival sound materials, and excerpts from Places of Yaanga (2017) by Genoël von Lilienstern — compositions for video, audio, flute, saxophone, and synthesizer.
Texts by Genoël von Lilienstern.

Travel with us in episode 14 of if the house could speak starting at 12 noon PT and airing for 24 hours on KFQM, 101.5 FM in the Pacific Palisades and online!

12/02/2025

Thirty years ago, on December 1, 1995, Marta and Lion Feuchtwanger’s former residence, Villa Aurora, opened her doors again after extensive renovations and has since served as an artist residence.
“The Villa”, with generous support of the German Federal Foreign Office, the State Commissioner for Culture and the Media as well as partner organizations, private donors in Germany and the United States, has awarded residency grants to 500 artists, many more guests, and organized countless programs on transatlantic cultural exchange.
Thank you for being on this wild ride with us.
We will be back!
🌅
In the meantime, enjoy a throw back to the opening celebration of our anniversary exhibition “Whispering Bells“ on our YouTube channel.
Cheers and see you soon!

Auswärtiges Amt

10/30/2025

Episode 10 of "if the house could speak“ is going live today at 12 noon and 9 episodes are already in our archive: https://lookout.fm/if-the-house.

Thank you for tuning in live on KFQM, 101.5 FM in the Pacific Palisades, on www.lookout.fm and for being with us on the way to rebuild Villa Aurora!

Written and recorded during her stay at Villa Aurora in 2024, Laura Stellacci’s radio piece "Boccalero“ is an audio-notebook, of sorts, compiled while researching a part of East Los Angeles’ local history. It is an evocation of the figure of an unconventional Franciscan nun, Sister Karen Boccalero (1933-1997), and the mark she left on Self-Help Graphics and Art, the experimental printmaking center that she co-founded with the q***r Mexican artists Carlos Bueno and Antonio Ibañez in Boyle Heights. Her fictional stream of consciousness revisits several moments in time, like the brief period when SHG hosted a punk club in its basement: the Vex would become an important musical incubator for Chicano and Latin/x punk bands in the 1980s. The organisation continues to be an important cultural center for Chicano Art today, encouraging and supporting aspiring artists.

Episode 10 will be live on KFQM 101.5 FM and online at www.lookout.fm for 24 hours from October 30, 12 noon to October 31, 12 noon 🦇

10/15/2025

✨What a magical night - thank you for celebrating with us!✨

Wir möchten uns bei allen wundervollen Gästen und Künstler:innen bedanken, die unsere diesjährige Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House-Nacht im silent green zu einem ganz besonderen Erlebnis gemacht haben.

Die Installation "Planetary Runway" von Marko Ciciliani, das Live-Weaving von Fern Liberty Campbell, die Lesung von Joram Schön und das Virtual Reality Google-Earth-Modell von Achim Mohné zeigten die künstlerische Bandbreite der Villa Aurora.

Musikalisch füllten Ilgen-Nur Boralı und Tintin Patrone & Krachkisten Orchester den Abend mit einer einzigartigen Atmosphäre. Sharon Dodua Otoo, Author und Julian Rosefeldt gaben in ihrem Gespräch mit Claudia Gordon persönliche Einblicke in das Leben und Schaffen in Los Angeles. Geschäftsführer Jakob Scherer sprach über die Bedeutung der Villa Aurora und die zukünftige Ausrichtung des Residenzprogramms.

Besonders bedanken möchten wir uns bei Stefan Rössel, dem Beauftragten für Auswärtige Kulturpolitik im Auswärtigen Amt, dessen Grußwort einen besonderen Höhepunkt des Abends darstellte.

💐

We would like to thank all the wonderful guests and artists who made this year’s Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House Night at .green such a special experience.

The installation "Planetary Runway" by Marko Ciciliani, the Live Weaving by Fern Liberty Campbell, the reading by Joram Schön, and the virtual reality Google Earth model by Achim Mohné showcased the artistic diversity of Villa Aurora. Musically, Ilgen-Nur Boralı and Tintin Patrone & Krachkisten Orchestra filled the evening with a unique atmosphere. Sharon Dodua Otoo, Author and Julian Rosefeldt gave personal insights into work and life in Los Angeles.

Our special thanks go to Stefan Rössel, Commissioner for Foreign Cultural Policy at the Federal Foreign Office, whose welcoming address was a true highlight of the evening.

📷 Credits: Kevin Fuchs

10/08/2025

✨ We are excited to announce our Villa Aurora Fellows for 2026!✨

Fourteen new fellows were selected by the independent juries in the fields of Film, Literature, Composition and Visual Arts.

🎥 Film:
Ayşe Polat, Feo Aladag, Sara Summa, Irene von Alberti and Jasmila Zbanic were selected.

🎼 Composition:
Oscar Bianchi, Joanna Bailie, Chantal Michelle and Masha Qrella as the fellow for the Musicboard Berlin.

📖 Literature:
Helene Bukowski, Aisha Franz and Yannic Han Biao Federer.

🎨 Visual Arts:
Akinbode Akinbiyi, Monilola Ilupeju and Marianna Simnett.

You can find out more about our new fellows and their projects on our website. Link in Bio.

We would like to thank the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media for their Kind support of the Villa Aurora and the fellowship program.

Photo Credits:

01. Akinbode Akinbiyi © Stefanie Kulisch
02. Feo Aladag © Feo Aladag
03. Irene von Alberti © René Fietzek
04. Joanna Bailie © Joanna Bailie
05. Oscar Bianchi © Agathe Poupeney
06. Helene Bukowski © Tobias Kruse
07. Yannic Han Biao Federer © AWK Engel-Albustin
08. Aisha Franz © Juan Bernardo Silva Wartski
09. Chantal Michelle © Carolyne Loree Teston
10. Monilola Olayemi Ilupeju © Semyan Alp
11. Ayşe Polat © Mak
12. Masha Qrella © C. Rorarius
13. Marianna Simnett © Marianna Simnett & Société Berlin
14. Sara Summa © Norman Wong
15. Jasmila Žbanić © Edvin Kalic

09/19/2025

Install week in full swing with our Villa Aurora fellows Fern Liberty Kallenbach Campbell, Klaus Pockrandt, Joram Schön, our friends + partners from Kunststiftung des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt.
“Whispering Bells” is opening on Saturday, September 20th and running through October 25th at O-Town House.

Address

Los Angeles, CA

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 3pm

Telephone

+13104544231

Website

https://www.vatmh.org/en/home-en.html

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