THE SCHIRN BRINGS TOGETHER ARTISTIC POSITIONS WHICH CAN BE READ AS SEISMOGRAPHS OF CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL ACTIVITY





"Installation" refers to an expansive indoor or outdoor art structure that can be made from almost any materials – sound, film, objects, light, etc., or indeed consist of a mix of materials

POWER TO THE PEOPLE. POLITICAL ART NOW

UNTIL 27 MAY 2018

Democracy appears to be in crisis; the post-democratic era has already dawned. The symptoms are manifold: populist leaders, fake news, autocratic backlash, totalitarian propaganda, neoliberalism. However, tendencies
toward a repoliticized society have been palpable for some time now. Artists
too are increasingly raising objections. They create works that they see as instruments of criticism and which expressly pursue political intentions. In a major exhibition, the SCHIRN brings together artistic positions which can
be read as seismographs of contemporary political activity. It focuses on fundamental issues and the examination of the phenomena and possibilities of political participation. The works call political positions into question, illustrate forms of protest, and set their sights on artistic involvement. Installations, photographs, videos, paintings and sculptures document the erosion of democratic achievements and the active pressure of the new mass movements. They analyze discourses on dominance and nonconformist interjections, develop strategies of opposition, and reflect the imaginative ways of the new protest culture

EXHIBITION NEWSPAPER

Artists’ voices brought together in one newspaper

Populist leaders, fake news and totalitarian propaganda: Democracy appears to be in crisis. At the same time, a notable re-politicization is taking hold. Artists too are now raising their voices and creating works they see as an objection to the existing system, as a call to political action and as an instrument of criticism. In their videos, installations, photographs, sculptures and paintings, they question political attitudes, analyze the discourse of power, and design imaginative forms of a new protest culture. An exhibition on political art needs a newspaper in which these voices can be raised: in the works of the artists, but likewise in their statements and interviews, which are available to read here