Under the title Urban Touch, the art association Kunsthalle Hannover is showing 25 artistic positions on urban phenomena in the Kunsthalle Faust and in public spaces in Hanover in a cooperation with OSTRALE O'16 - Center for Contemporary Art Dresden and in connection with the Mediations Biennale Poznan, Poland .
The world is experiencing a shift towards urbanization. Our cities today are being shaped by enormous architectural, social and urban political change processes. The multimedia art project Urban Touch examines transformation processes in the contact zone between the uncultivated hinterland and its socio-economic and architectural ownership. It will use performative, participatory and projective strategies to trace the upheavals, expansion and retreat phenomena in urban space. In particular, the project, through a selection of international participants, provides insights into the critical, artistic debate on the topic, urban interventions and performances as can be observed in the urban centers of “emerging development countries”.
The artistic spectrum of the exhibition is supplemented by European and, in particular, Lower Saxony positions and thus opens up two perspectives: On the one hand, Urban Touch points predominantly documentaryly to the peripheral areas and the surrounding areas of mega-cities, where, as a result of the demanding attitude of urban thinking, the permanent overexploitation of Natural resources and the impoverishment of all livelihoods is progressing. On the other hand, the exhibition draws attention to the center of urban society, reflects restructuring and changing values primarily through performative and participatory actions and thus examines the scope of action of the “public matter”.
What influence and strategies does contemporary art have, does art have in public space in the face of these transformations, in the context of today's “res publica” and in what condition – as an indicator of democratization processes – is it? The consequences of poor urban planning could be discussed, 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 in real-time space for the project beyond the exhibition space, in which artists not only explore the boundaries between life and work, private and public, but also temporarily de-regulate and repurpose public space (“ Shared Space”, Ben Hamilton-Baillie).
In this way, Urban Touch implants the engagement of international and local artists with urban change on a large scale, mobile in the district and stationary in the Kunsthalle Faust and in the former Gerhard Uhlhorn Church in cooperation with the agency for creative ZwischenRaumVertzung Hannover. The cooperation with OSTRALE O’16 in Dresden and the Mediations Biennale in Poznan also enables a selection of specific works on urban topics in Hanover and creates additional synergies with regard to transport and overall documentation. In addition, the art association Kunsthalle Hannover is developing a separately financed art education program consisting of lectures, discussion forums, workshops and performances.
Artists involved
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)
Curator: Harro Schmidt, Kunsthalle Faust
Exhibition location
Kunsthalle Faust Art
Zur Bettfedernfabrik 3
30451 Hannover
Germany
Telephone: +49 511 213 48 60
Email: kunsthalle@kulturzentrum-faust.de
Vernissage
Saturday, October 8th, 6 p.m
Welcome by Harro Schmidt (KV Kunsthalle Hannover), greetings by Harald Härke (head of the cultural department of the state capital of Hannover) and Andrea Hilger (director of the Ostrale 2016, Dresden), performance by Andita Purnamasari
Duration of exhibition
Sunday, October 9th to Sunday, November 20th, 2016
Opening times Kunsthalle Faust
Thurs and Fri 4 p.m. - 8 p.m., Sat and Sun 2 p.m. - 6 p.m
