WHO WANTS TO DIE?
Exhibition: 09/14/2016 – 10/28/2016
Opening: Tuesday, 13 Sept 2016, 19.00
Address: rk Galerie | Möllendorffstr. 6 | 10367 Berlin
Opening times: Mon – Fri 10:00 – 18:00 and by appointment
The first station of the exhibition project is organised by rk Gallery in cooperation with the Center of Polish Sculpture and WHITECONCEPTS during the Berlin Art Week 2016.
Curator: Nicole Loeser, Co-Curator: Leszek Golec
Kindly supported by The Berlin Weissensee School of Art, the Institut für Raumexperimente / Berlin University of the Arts and the Galerie Nord-Kunstverein Tiergarten.
The social, political and economic situation in Europe has galvanized a young generation (of artists) to create politically engaged art that poses questions and stimulates and fosters discussion, using this interdisciplinary language to reflect the prevailing crises.
Shown for the first time during Berlin Art Week, the exhibition project “WHO WANTS TO DIE?” presents „Pacifism nowadays“ as the central motif and constituent moment of a sociocritical, probing, exploratory, actionistic and abstract artistic debate about the social order and its transformation. More particularly, the question concerning the current meaning of “pacifism” is at the center of the panel discussion. The first showing of the exhibition features the work of young graduates from Polish and German art academies and includes artistic media such as video, sculpture, painting, photography, and performance.
The exhibition curator Nicole Loeser got her inspiration for this project during a visit to the 7th Young Triennial at the Center for Polish Sculpture in Oronsko, Poland. The title of that exhibition, curated by Leszek Golec, was borrowed from Daria Malicka’s work “Kunszt” (art + craft + skill). The name reflected one of the main motifs of the exhibition: The significance of artisanal craft in contemporary art and its placement in scientific and social contexts. The works of 25 artists, selected from more than 30 Polish art academies, gave topics such as religion, ecology and pacifism a highly professional treatment. This enabled them to demonstrate the involvement of contemporary art in political and social aspects. Some of the Polish works will now be shown in the context of the exhibition “WHO WANTS TO DIE?” where they will be complemented by young artists based in Berlin, Kiel and Leipzig.
Program:
Wednesday, Sept 14th, 18.30 – 20:30
Panel discussion in trialogues
What does pacifism means nowadays? How is this term used, understood and reflected in global, national, individual and artistic ways?
Panelists:
Christoph Both-Asmus, Artist
Dr. Ute Finckh-Krämer, MdB/SPD
Martin Schwarze, Artist
Dr. Hans Jörg Schrötter, Lawyer, Journalist
Katharina Weiß, Social pedagogue, Mediator
Ruthe Zuntz, Artist
Friday, Sept 16th, 18.00 – 23.00
Long Night in Lichtenberg
Saturday, Sept 17th, 14.00 – 18.00
Special exhibit during Berlin Art Week / Art week of local galleries
15:00 Ritual Performance by Christoph Both-Asmus
Documentation by Andreas Wengel, 14.09.2016
