An international art project in the Kunsthalle Faust and in public spaces
Under the title Urban Touch, the Kunstverein Kunsthalle Hannover is showing 25 artistic positions on urban phenomena in the Kunsthalle Faust and in Hannover’s public space in cooperation with the OSTRALE O’16 – Centre for Contemporary Art Dresden and in connection with the Mediations Biennale Poznan, Poland.
The world is experiencing a shift towards urbanisation. Our cities today are characterised by enormous processes of architectural, social and urban political change. The multimedia art project Urban Touch examines transformation processes in the contact zone between the uncultivated hinterland and its socio-economic and architectural appropriation. It will use performative, participative and projective strategies to trace the upheavals, expansion and retreat phenomena in urban space. In particular, through a selection of international participants, the project will provide insights into the critical, artistic examination of the topic, urban interventions and performances as they can be observed in the urban centres of ‘emerging countries in terms of development policy’.
The artistic spectrum of the exhibition is complemented by European and, in particular, Lower Saxon positions, thus opening up two perspectives: On the one hand, Urban Touch points predominantly documentarily to the peripheral areas and the environs of mega-cities, where the spread of permanent overexploitation of natural resources and the impoverishment of all livelihoods is progressing as a result of an attitude of entitlement in urban thinking. On the other hand, the exhibition directs the gaze to the centre of urban society, reflecting restructuring and changing values predominantly through performative and participatory actions and thus examining the scope for action of the ‘public cause’.
What influence and what strategies does contemporary art, art in public space have in the face of these transformations, in the context of today’s ‘res publica’ and in what condition – as an indicator of democratisation processes – is it in? The consequences of urban planning mistakes could be addressed, as could initiatives of successful citizen participation or the temporary, sometimes utopian appropriation of ‘urban wilderness’. The integration of artistic strategies in public space opens up a field of experimentation for the project beyond the exhibition space in real time, in which artists not only sound out the boundaries between living and working, private and public, but also temporarily pursue the de-regulation and rededication of public space (‘Shared Space’, Ben Hamilton-Baillie).
Urban Touch thus implants the examination of urban change by international and local artists in an expansive, mobile manner in the district and stationary in the Kunsthalle Faust and in the former Gerhard Uhlhorn Church in cooperation with the Agentur für kreative ZwischenRaumNutzung Hannover. The cooperation with the OSTRALE O’16 in Dresden and the Mediations Biennale in Poznan also enables a selection of specific works on the urban theme in Hanover and creates additional synergies in terms of transport and overall documentation. In addition, the Kunstverein Kunsthalle Hannover is developing a separately financed art education programme consisting of lectures, discussion forums, workshops and performances.
Participating artists:
Jude Anogwih (Nigeria), Emmanuelle Tanaïs Aupest (Germany), Katerina Belkina (Russia/Germany), Yosef Joseph Dadoune (Israel), Grzegorz Drozs (Poland), Monika Drozynska (Poland), Victor Ehikhamenor (Nigeria), Patricija Gilyte (Lithuania/Germany), Helmut Hennig (Germany), Sebastian Hertrich (Germany), Barbara Hindahl (Germany), Wei-Ming Ho (Taiwan), Daniel Kiczales (Israel), Fatmi Mounir (Morocco), David Mozny (Czech Republic), Christiane Oppermann (Germany), Tom Otto (Germany), Ray Piwi (Kenya), Andita Purnama Sari (India), Wibke Rahn (Germany), Marcus Shahar (Israel), Risa Takita (Japan/Netherlands), Ilka Theurich (Germany), Emeka Udemba (Nigeria/Germany), Mao Wei-Xin & Ji Wen-Yu (China), Li Xiaofei (China/USA)
Opening hours Kunsthalle Faust: Thu and Fri 4-8 pm, Sat and Sun 2-6 pm
Admission: 3 euros, reduced: 2 euros
Supporting programme in the former Gerhard Uhlhorn Church:
Sunday, 9 October, 3 pm
Discussion with artists from the exhibition
Sunday, 9 October, 5 pm
Performance by Risa Takita
Sunday, 30 October, 3 pm
Performance by Christiane Oppermann and Ilka Theurich
Friday, 4 November, 7 pm
‘Dictionary Climate Debate’ –
Book launch and discussion with editor Sybille Bauriedl
The project is under the patronage of Harald Härke, Head of the Department of Culture and Human Resources of the City of Hanover.
An exhibition of the Kunstverein Kunsthalle Hannover e.V.
www.kunsthalle-hannover.de