Artists: Anjana Kothamachu, Antonia Low, Ina Ettlinger, Hans HS Winkler, Harish V Mallappanavar, Rasso Rottenfußer, Vichar B N, Vineesh Amin
Exhibition title: Responsive Curating
Curated by: Ralf Homann (Kunstraum München) with Uwe Jonas (studio im HOCHHAUS, Berlin), Suresh Kumar and Surekha (BAR1, Bengaluru)
Venue: Kunstraum München, Munich, Germany
Date: September 12 – October 25, 2020
Photography: All images copyright of Thomas Splett and Kunstraum München
Responsive Curating Imagine the exhibition space is something like a terminal device, say a cell phone, and the exhibition consists of a data package that is downloaded and unpacked in the art space: depending on the size and cultural context of the exhibition, the artworks change during their installation. “Responsive Curating” experiments with the “exhibition” as a “universal medium” that can communicate anywhere. An experimental arrangement with surprising results, especially in view of the current challenges of a pandemic. In the face of the currently limited cultural life, the artists do not rely on digitalizing imaging strategies or repackaging in online formats. “Responsive Curating” at Kunstraum München relies entirely on the power of visual art in physical space and the direct experience and in-depth examination of the individual works by the visitors. Works that deal with the new challenges of a digital culture or a global economy and the associated tension between identity and universalism. With an eye to ecological issues, the transnational exhibition based on “Responsive Curating” did not require any travel by artists or art shipping. Instead, the curatorial concept revisits the formal principles of instruction-based art of the 1960s, but under today’s conditions: These include, for instance, the sketching of instructions with vector sizes or the responsive design of individual objects in the exhibition space. On the basis of the artistic instructions, the works are realized again for each exhibition space and recycled in the local recycling system after the end of the exhibition. The aura of the artwork is deliberately not created. Kunstraum München is the second station of “Responsive Curating” after the Venkatappa Art Gallery in the South Indian mega-city Bengaluru 2019 (“Exhibition on Flash Drive”).
On view are works by Anjana Kothamachu (Bengaluru), Antonia Low (Berlin and Stuttgart), Ina Ettlinger (Munich), Hans HS Winkler (Berlin and New York), Harish V Mallappanavar (Haveri), rasso rottenfusser (Riva del Garda and Munich), Vichar B N (Bengaluru) and Vineesh Amin (Bengaluru).
The artworks are based on the digital instructions of the artists and were produced in Munich especially for the exhibition. They question, among other things, the changes of “time” due to the Corona pandemic, the function of original and copy on the global art market, the role expectations and projections of desire on artists, and the achievable scopes of political action in diversified globalized and postcolonial contexts.
The exhibition ist sponsored by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and Arts, Kulturstiftung der Stadtsparkasse München and Kulturreferat der Landeshauptstadt München. The first station of the exhibition in Bangalore was sponsored by Goethe-Institut.
In cooperation with VARIOUS OTHERS.
