Utopia/Dystopia – A Paradigm Shift at MAAT

Artists: Alexander Brodsky & Ilya Utkin, Andreas Angelidakis, Archigram, Archizoom, Timo Arnall, åyr, Kader Attia, Pedro Bandeira, Pedro Barateiro, Olivo Barbieri, James Beckett, Berdaguer & Péjus, Alain Bublex, Jordi Colomer, Robert Darroll, Inês Dantas, Tacita Dean, DIS Collective, Diogo Evangelista, Inci Eviner, Didier Faustino, Cao Fei, Ângela Ferreira, Yona Friedman, Cyprien Gaillard, Pierre-Jean Giloux, Clara Ianni, Renaud Jerez, Gonçalo Mabunda, Michael MacGarry, Office in collaboration with Dogma, OMA, Miguel Palma, Pedro Portugal, William Powhida, Tabor Robak, André Romão, Aldo Rossi, Jonas Staal, Beniamino Servino, Michael E. Smith, Superstudio, Ryan Trecartin, Nasan Tur, Vigilism, WAI Think Tank, Wolfgang Tillmans, Lebbeus Woods

Exhibition title: Utopia/Dystopia – A Paradigm Shift

Curated by: Pedro Gadanho, João Laia and Susana Ventura

Venue: MAAT, Lisbon, Portugal

Date: March 22 – August 21, 2017

Photography: Bruno Lopes, all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and MAAT, Lisbon

UTOPIA/DYSTOPIA – A PARADIGM SHIFT | Curated by: Pedro Gadanho, João Laia and Susana Ventura | 22 March – 21 Aug 2017 | MAAT – Main Gallery, Project Room and Video Room.

Utopia/Dystopia – A Paradigm Shift, is the first “manifesto exhibition” at MAAT’s new building. Establishing a dialogue with the site-specific commissions at the museum’s Oval Gallery, these group shows present side by side the works of artists and architects who, in their respective fields, have produced insights and critical reflections on crucial themes of our times. Echoing the 500th anniversary of Thomas More’s Utopia, the show reveals how the dichotomy between utopia and dystopia reflects a time of paradoxical acceleration, where anxiety and optimism collide.

Today, technological developments stimulate expectations of enhanced connectivity and a better quality of life. However, cyclical crises also constantly disturb the social, political and ecological spheres. With utopian and dystopian narratives typically emerging in such troubled periods, artists and architects, writers or filmmakers are crucial in proposing contradictions and proposing illuminating new possibilities. Encompassing a wide range of ideas, from a profound reflexion on the downfall of Modernism to the current political scene, Utopia/Dystopia promotes a dialogue between more than 60 artworks and projects that present unique views on the subject since the early 1970s.

Utopia/Dystopia – A Paradigm Shift, 2017, exhibition view, MAAT, Lisbon