October 24, 2006
LIMINAL SPACES/
grenzraeume
LIMINAL SPACES/ grenzraeume :: GfZK Leipzig, 28 October 2006 – 21 January 2007 :: Exhibition opening: 27 October, from 19.00 pm :: Gallery Open: Tue-Sat 14.00 – 19.00 pm/ Sunday 12.00 – 19.00 pm.
LIMINAL SPACES/ grenzraeume originated from an initiative of individual Palestinian and Israeli artists united in their opposition to the destructive dynamics and ever growing hardship and deprivation of basic civil and political rights endured by Palestinians under Israeli occupation. An unprecedented network of artists, curators and cultural producers emerged, meeting often under difficult circumstances, despite the harsh context of ever increasing violence and the complete collapse of the political peace process. LIMINAL SPACES/ grenzraeume, a project by the Palestinian Association of Contemporary Arts (PACA), Ramallah, The Israeli Centre for Digital Art, Holon and the University of the Arts, Berlin wishes to support and strengthen this informal network and its stance.
In March 2006, the project invited Palestinian, European and Israeli artists, architects, academics and film makers to examine the condition of everyday space, borders, physical segregation, cultural territories within a reality of occupation and challenge the possibilities of art as a catalyst for political and social change. The foc! us of th e project is the radically divided and fragmented urban region of Jerusalem/ Ramallah, which has become a laboratory for an urbanism of radical ethnic segregation. Curators, cultural figures and artists developed this project through a series of meetings and discussions that sought to generate a more active political engagement of the art sector. Additionally, it is hoped that through participation in the project, new possibilities of contact and exchange will emerge on an individual basis and beyond.
The project was launched with a conference in March, 2006, in the area of the Qalandiya checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah, followed by individual residencies which gave artists the opportunity to research tactics and artistic strategies for addressing the physiognomy of specific sites and their everyday operations and adhering to exposing spatial and contextual politics of the Israeli occupation. The perception of the frontiers were investigated, and their accessibility, permeability and potential as contact and communication zones challenged. Artists employed new forms of creative practice adopting and subverting contemporary technology and systems of media communication, underlining the central role played by technology in the shaping of the physical borders.
The process resulted in over 20 new works, which are now being shown to the public for the very first time! The future library spaces of the Gallery for Contemporary Arts Leipzig (GfZK), including the already acquired shelves of Vito Acconci’s library installation at Documenta 10, provide an unusual exhibition context and generate mutual resonances between LIMINAL SPACES/ grenzraeume as an evolving archive of research and production in the Middle East and the GfZK’s declared ambition to build up a public library.
Participating artists: Jumana Emil Abboud, Sameh Abboushi, Azra Aksamija, Ayreen Anastas und Rene Gabri, Yochai Avrahami, Yael Bartana, Peter Friedl, Hagar Goren, Inass Hamad, Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti, Khalid Horani, Sabine Horlitz and Oliver Clemens, Ligna, Suleiman Mansour, Oren Sagiv, Sala-Manca Group, Miri Segal, Sean Snyder, Superflex, Simon Wachsmuth
Curatorial Advisors: Khalid Horani, Andreja Hribernik, Barbara Steiner, in cooperation with Interdisziplinäres Projekt-Forum (Wolfgang Knapp) of the University of the Arts Berlin/ Institute for Art and Context
Curated by: Eyal Danon, Galit Eilat, Reem Fadda, Philipp Misselwitz
Screening program:
2 November 2006
20.00 pm CINEMA: >Trespassing<, selection of Israeli short films and videos curated by Eyal Danon: Artists without Walls, >April 1st< (19'30'', 2004) // Avi Mograbi, >Details 3&4< (9', 2004) // Annan Tzukerman, >Anxious Escapism< (26', 2005) // Ruti Sela & Ma'ayan Amir, >Beyond guilt #2< (18', 2004) // Ruti Sela & Ma'ayan Amir, >Alei Zahav after Aliza Begin< (5'30'', 2005) // Nira Pereg, >Souvenir< (5', 2005) // Ruti Sela & Clil Nadav, >Loopolice< (6'55'', 2003). An event organized for the Friends of the GfZK Leipzig.
7 December 2006
20.00 pm CINEMA: >Pasolini Pa* Palestine< by Ayreen Anastas (Jerusalem, 2003). An event organized for the Friends of the GfZK Leipzig.
4 January 2007
20.00 pm CINEMA: >Quelques Miettes Pour Les Oiseaux - Some Crumbs for the Birds< by Annemarie Jacir (France/ Jordan, 2005) and >Avenge But One Of My Two Eyes< by Avi Mograbi (Israel, 2005). An event organized for the Friends of the GfZK Leipzig.
International Workshop (28.10 – 29.10)
The opening of the exhibition will be accompanied by an international workshop, which will explore political and social responsibilities of art production, dis! cussing current trends that are changing the role of institutions, artists, curators and activists. The conference will explore the notion of 'responsibility' in the context of the Middle East - characterised by the escalation of violence and violations of human and civil rights, the continuation of the military occupation, the building of an apartheid wall and complete breakdown of the peace process – as well as in the context of Post-Fordist Central Europe where the erosion of social democratic principles challenges artists and institutions to survive in a harsher social climate and fight for the acceptance and the engagement of a wider public.
In Hebrew, the word responsibility (acherayut) contains within it the word acher, which means ‘other’ or ‘different.’ It also contains the word achrey, which means ‘after’ or ‘following an event or act.’ In English, the word ‘responsibility’ contains within it the word ‘response’ (originating from the old French responsun meaning ‘something offered in return’). There is a delicacy in the English language through prepositions following the word ‘responsibility’ as one can be responsible for something or responsible to someone. In Arabic, the word mas’uliyah contains within it the verb su’ila, which literally means to require a response. In all three languages, we find a unified stance which states that responsibility is linked to responding or answering an external other. How may we respond or answer the contemporary demand for a responsibility to another or a different worldview? How may we take responsibility or act differently as cultural producers and/or cultural consumers? Participants will include the artists of the project LIMINAL SPACES/ grenzr! aeume as well as international guests.
DAY 1 (Saturday, 28 October 2006)
Forum 1: Reflections on the LIMINAL SPACES project
Moderator: Francis McKee
11.00 am Short presentations by artists participating in the LIMINAL SPACES project
13:30 pm Lunch Break (for invited participants only)
15.00 pm Project presentation by the curators: Reem Fadda, Philipp Misselwitz, Eyal Danon and Galit Eilat.
16.00 pm Open session
17.00 pm Coffee Break
17.30 pm Panel discussion - Cultural Territories: Wolfgang Knapp, Salwa Mikdadi, Nina Möntmann, Erzen Shkololli, Hito Steyerl
18:30 pm Conclusion
19:00 pm Joint dinner (for invited participants only) followed by party
DAY 2 (Sunday, 29 October 2006)
Forum 2: Crisis and Potentials of Institutions (The Middle East, Near East and Europe)
Moderator: Francis McKee
11.00 am Nina Möntmann: Art and its Institutions – Current Conflict, Critique and Collaborations
11.30 am Case study 1: Jumana Emil Abboud: Al Mamal Foundation, East Jerusalem. The establishment of The Museum of Contemporary Art – Palestine (CAMP)
12.00 am Case study 2: Eyal Danon: Jaffa – An Autobiography of a City. Untold stories of different national, ethnic, religious and gender groups within Israel
12.30 am Case study 3: Boris Buden: EIPCP – European Institute for Progressive Cultural Policies
13.00 pm Case study 4: Salwa Mikdadi: Institutionalization of Art Practice under Occupation/Palestinian Artists Working Under Siege (West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza)
13.30 pm Case study 5: Erzen Shkololli: Exit Institute for Contemporary Art in Peja, Kosovo – the dramatic transformation of the region, connected in particular with the disintegration of the local totalitarian regimes during the 1990s
14:00 pm Lunch Break (for invited participants only)
15.30 pm Open session
16.30 pm Conclusion
Partners: LIMINAL SPACES/ grenzraeume has been jointly organized by the Palestinian Association of Contemporary Art (PACA), Digital A! rt Lab, Holon and the University of the Arts, Berlin.
The Palestinian Association for Contemporary Arts - PACA
Reem Fadda, Director
Aref Al-Aref House
Behind Arab Bank Al-Bireh
Al-Nahdah Street
Ramallah, Palestine
T: +972 2 2951849
F: +972 2 2967601
E: reemfadda[at]gmail.com
The Israeli Centre for Digital Art Holon
Galit Eilat, Director
Digital Art Lab
16 Yirmiyahu st
Holon 58373
Israel
T +972 3 5568792
F +972 3 5580003
E galit[at]digitalartlab.org.il
Web www.digitalartlab.org.il
Universität der Künste Berlin
Philipp Misselwitz (Lehrstuhl Prof. Peter Bayerer) and Wolfgang Knapp (Interdisziplinäres Projekt-Forum der Universität der Künste Berlin)
Hardenbergstraße 33
10623 Berlin
T +49 177 4107168
E misselwitz[at]studio-uc.net
The exhibition and conference is made possible by:
Kulturstiftung des Bundes
Robert Bosch Stiftung
European Cultural Foundation
Heinrich Böll Stiftung Ramallah
Goethe Institut Jerusalem
Posted by jo at October 24, 2006 08:27 AM
