Uncertain States – Artistic Strategies in States of Emergency

With its major programme “Uncertain States. Artistic Strategies in States of Emergency”, the Akademie der Künste is placing an artistic focus on the current political, social and individual changes and insecurities. This three-month programme, opening on 14 October in the Akademie der Künste in Hanseatenweg, is structured around the three basic elements of an “Experiential Space of Things” from the archives of the Akademie, an exhibition of contemporary art, and a wide range of diverse events.

The fragility of individual, societal and political conditions, triggered by wars, poverty and terrorism, are the focus of an artistic investigation, in which the currently dramatic situation surrounding the refugee movement makes reference to historical experiences of flight and exile between 1933 and 1945. Selected objects and documents from the archives of the Akademie der Künste, by Walter Benjamin, Bertolt Brecht, Valeska Gert, Lea Grundig, Heinrich Mann, Bruno Taut, Kurt Tucholsky and others, correspond to more than 25 contemporary arts positions reflecting recent experiences and situations resulting from crisis and flight, instability, violence and loss. The latter include works by Francis Alÿs, Reza Aramesh, Ayşe Erkmen, William Forsythe, Mona Hatoum, Isaac Julien, Sigalit Landau, Maziar Moradi, Graciela Sacco, Nasan Tur, Micha Ullman and Arkadi Zaides.

A series of lectures and special events will address current political questions on themes such as neo-colonialism, the causes for flight and migration, and the new rise in nationalism in Europe, posited from within the context of cultural and artistic positions. A thinking space will be created through lectures, debates, concerts, film presentations, performances and theatre.

The speakers in the “Discourses” lecture series include Nikita Dhawan, Natasha A. Kelly, Grada Kilomba, Claus Leggewie, Michael Lüders, Katharina Lumpp, Norman Manea, Chantal Mouffe, Armin Nassehi, Jochen Oltmer, Gesine Schwan and Rita Süssmuth. “Uncertain States” becomes a thinking and action space in which artistic positions are linked to current discourses.

Exhibition Opening Friday 14 October 2016, 7 pm, Free admission

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www.adk.de/uncertain-states