ART – POSITION – CATASTROPHY: PANEL DISCUSSION


PANEL

30.01.2022
3 p.m.

ART – POSITION – CATASTROPHY: PANEL DISCUSSION

On Sunday, Jan. 30 at 3 p.m., a panel discussion will take place at the Künstlerforum Bonn. Discussing:

Fatima Hellberg (director of the Bonner Kunstverein)

Martina Padberg (director of the Kunstmuseum Ahlen)

Grit Ruhland (artist)

Ros Sachsse-Schadt (cultural politician, art historian)

The conversation will be moderated by: Susanne Grube (Director Künstlerforum Bonn)

Location: Künstlerforum Bonn, Hochstadenring 22-24, 53119 Bonn.

For the event, 2 G + applies, i.e. vaccinated/genetically screened and either tested or boosted. Masks are also mandatory. We ask for registration by mail: info@kuenstlerforum-bonn.de

REDRAW TRAGEDY encourages the discussion of how crises affect art production and reception, and how art, on the other hand, can be involved in overcoming them. A search has begun.

Crises and catastrophes are increasingly taking hold of a seemingly safe and orderly world, even in a rich country like Germany. The confidence of many in technical progress and material prosperity, as tempting and reassuring as it may be, is beset by a growing sense of unease. After all, “September 11,” the “banking crisis,” the “refugee crisis,” the “climate catastrophe,” the “Corona pandemic” not only appear in the media as questionable buzzwords with varying degrees of transience, but they are like the tips of icebergs that point to deeper-seated problems. Their effects have an immediate as well as long-term impact on everyday life.

Heard it all before?

In the face of globalized problems of almost impenetrable complexity, grand designs are lacking. But the attempt to find individual alternatives is also overwhelming. Even determining one’s position is difficult. Both science and perception can be subject to deception. It is often a matter of perspective or power what is defined as right or wrong.

Related questions have been and continue to be negotiated in art. Artists are regarded as sensitive observers who can pass on this attitude. Contemporary works are allowed to irritate. Sometimes courage can be drawn from these sources. The very process of artistic creation is a risk, because it carries the possibility of failure. Personal crises can inspire, because in the moment of vacillation they allow something new to emerge, the qualities of which unfold as the future.

In art therapy, creativity helps to process trauma. Participatory art projects support joint action and – ideally thought of – promote tolerance.

So it’s not just about content, but just as much about strategies that are thought up and tried out, and linked to that, the changing appreciation they can experience.

“Experts for the future” is what Elke Buhr calls artists in the November 2019 issue of Monopol magazine. In the accompanying catalog for “RE//SET – KRISE//CHANCE,” Martina Padberg emphasizes the “(also) healing” effect when works of art lead into borderline areas of threat and fear. Kristina Scepanski speaks in an interview of the WDR program “Mosaik” on the occasion of the exhibition “Nimmersatt?” (11/27-21 – 2/27-2022) at the Westfälischer Kunstverein, she talks about art as a “rethinking aid.”

What role can art play in transforming dystopias into utopias? What role does the art business want to play in society when it comes to acting responsibly? How far do artists:inside want to go in order to remain supposedly relevant? How free is art?

Cultural workers have a valuable potential. And of course we love art. But if we don’t want to just guard this treasure, we still have to be careful with it.

During the uncertainty of the ongoing Corona pandemic, immobilization in the arts community has produced many thoughtful voices. It made what had already been simmering for some time more insistent and more so. An impressive array of events and exhibitions attest to this. The project “Redraw Tragedy” has already been in the program of the Künstlerforum Bonn since 2019. It is not the first time that thematic exhibitions are confronted with increasing topicality. We would like to discuss many things and look beyond our own horizons.

(Text: Susanne Grube, Nov. 2021)

The extensive supporting program takes place in cooperation with the team of the Artists’ Forum and the Museum Studies of the University of Bonn, supplemented by a digital accompanying program on the website (https://www.redraw-tragedy.de/) and in social media.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Stiftung Kunst der Sparkasse Bonn, the Stiftung Kunstfonds and the City of Bonn.

Exhibition REDRAW TRAGEDY: Jan. 16 – Feb. 23, 2022.

Opening hours of the exhibition: Tue- Fri 3-6pm, Sat 2-5pm, Sun 11am-5pm.

The current Corona protection regulation applies, i.e. currently 2 G and mask. At events, such as the panel discussions and guided tours, 2 G + applies. Possible updates can be found beforehand on the website of the Künstlerforum (kuenstlerforum-bonn.de).