Guenter Grass Invites Artists From Both Koreas to Germany

Grass discussed the German experience of reunification at a conference in the South Korean capital Seoul in 2002.

A date had not yet been fixed for the conference, which is expected to take place in the Willy Brandt House in the northern city of Luebeck.

Grass urged the two Koreas to aim for a more gradual and balanced process of reunification than the German model, a statement from the gallery said.

Abrupt change

This is not the first time that the German Nobel-prize winner is concerned about the danger of borders being erased too quickly. As the events which led to German reunification in 1990 began to unfold, Grass was very vocal in his opposition and referred to it as an "annexation."

Grass caused a furor in Germany two years ago when he admitted that he had served in the notorious Waffen SS elite force during World War II, but chose to keep quiet about it for decades, during which he became a moral authority in post-war Germany.

Tammen plans to display drawings and sculptures by Grass, who studied sculpture and graphics, at this year's Korea International Art Fair from Sept. 19 to 23 in a shared exhibition stand with Berlin's Gaulin & Partner gallery.

The gallery also plans its own exhibition in both North and South Korea later this year.