Uwe Schütte: 'Sternenmenschen. Bowie in Gugging.' Talk + Reading + Book Signing

We're excited to host a Talk & Slideshow (in English) with author Uwe Schütte for his book 'Sternenmenschen. Bowie in Gugging.' This will be followed by a short reading from the book (in German) + Book Signing. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at Rough Trade Berlin. on the night.

\------

In September 1994, David Bowie visited the ‘House of Artists’ at the Psychiatric Hospital in Gugging, near Vienna. There, he sought inspiration for his work on the concept album 'Outside' through encounters with individuals who were hospitalised long-term with schizophrenia, in whom psychiatrist Leo Navratil had recognized a special artistic talent.

However, the visit - an episode in Bowie's biography never truly understood before - had special, private significance: his beloved half-brother, Terry Burns, had been a patient at Cane Hill Hospital in South London, where he underwent psychiatric treatment due to paranoid hallucinations. Bowie only visited him there once, before Terry tragically took his own life in January 1985.

Author and academic Uwe Schütte was a regular guest at the ‘House of Artists’ during the 1990s, and developed friendships with many of the artist-patients. His book 'Sternenmenschen' empathetically portrays several of the patients Bowie encountered, analyses the relationship between Bowie and Burns, and explains the asting impact these encounters with schizophrenic artists had on Bowie's work.

Presented by Rough Trade Europe.

This is an 16+ event