I went to check out Simon Fujiwara’s installation ’Phallusies’ at the Berlinische Galerie, which was hosting an exhibition space for the ‘Based in Berlin' festival. The festival is on for 6 weeks and exhibits the works of 80 emerging artists who live and work in Berlin.

There’s a bit of everything at the festival: performances, films, paintings, sculptures, drawings, photography, etc. You can borrow one of their free bikes to get to the various sites. That’s what I did and had the chance to see a bit of the city.

'Phallusies' is based on the true story of the discovery of a giant stone phallus found under the foundations of a new museum building in the Arabian desert. No one knows where the stone is and there is no record of its existence. Fujiwara commissioned the 4 British men who witnessed the stone to re-fabricate it from memory. The photo is of the final constructed phallus and it's pretty long! When you enter the dim lit exhibition space, you truly feel you've entered an archeological museum: there are tools, maps, drawings of the phallus, books, and sand. There's a video that features interviews with the British men and follows the making of the ancient phallus.

I like the artist’s way of combining history, archeology, and mystery into art.

Festival runs until July 24th 2011.