​Uncertain States – Artistic Strategies in States of Emergency

 

An exhibition project of the Akademie der Künste
04.08.— 30.09.2019

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Participating artists: Francis Alÿs |  Reza Aramesh | Taysir Batniji | Christian Boltanski | Vlassis Caniaris | Marianna Christofides | Arnold Dreyblatt | Nezaket Ekici | Ayşe Erkmen | William Forsythe | Aslan Gaisumov | Yervant Gianikian & Angela Ricci Lucchi | Ingo Günther | Shilpa Gupta | Lawrence Abu Hamdan | Mona Hatoum
Isaac Julien | Nikita Kadan | Bouchra Khalili | Marwan Kassab-Bachi | Kimsooja | Sigalit Landau | Maziar Moradi | Richard Mosse | Graciela Sacco | Zineb Sedira | Akam Shex Hadi | Robel Temesgen | Nasan Tur | Micha Ullman | Arkadi Zaides

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UNCERTAIN STATES is an exhibition which investigates the significance of memory and narrative within processes of social and cultural transformation. In an era of grave uncertainty fuelled by the destabilising state and social order in the eastern Mediterranean region as well as terrorism and new forms of nationalism and racism in Europe, artists take up the responsibility for the “History of the Other”, for communicating in an open and differentiated way where our own artistic position is located in relation to the other. This involves dealing with such concerns as collective traumatisation, the loss of identity, empathy and the attempt to understand, and the experience of profound precariousness. Through their works, visual artists offer a platform not just for sharing and exchange, but also with the potential to transform experience. For this reason, the exhibition is structured around two equally essential elements – political, social and cultural studies research and debates as well as a series of remarkable documents and objects from the Akademie archives presenting artists’ memories during conditions of states of emergency in Germany between 1933 and 1945. Together, in the media of film, video, photography, sculpture and painting, these elements create an interplay of discursive, documentary and narrative contributions.

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Curators (Contemporary Art): Anke Hervol, Johannes Odenthal in cooperation with Katerina Gregos, Diana Wechsler; Archive: Werner Heegewaldt, Anneka Metzger

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For further information click here.

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To download the exhibition guide click here.

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