Rirkrit Tiravanija: Power to the People. Political Art Now
Schirn Kunsthalle
Römerberg
60311 Frankfurt
March 21 - May 27, 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 by Phyllida Barlow, Andrea Bowers, Julius von Bismarck, Sam Durant, Omer Fast, Adelita Husni-Bey, Hiwa K, Ahmet Öğüt, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Forensic Architecture 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.