LISTINGS INFORMATION

Exhibition: Overcoming Dictatorships
9 Oct. – 9 Nov. 2008
The Rotunda Gallery, Aston Webb Building,
The University of Birmingham
Mon – Fri, 10 am-5pm; closed weekends
Admission Free

Round table discussion
with participating artists of Overcoming Dictatorships
chaired by Nigel Prince
8 Oct. 2008, 6.30pm
Ikon Gallery, 1 Oozells Square, Brindley Place,
Birmingham, B1 2HS
0121 248 0708
No booking required

Roles of the Visual in Overcoming Dictatorships
Conference on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition Overcoming Dictatorships
9 Oct. 2008, 9am - 4pm
Department of History of Art, The University of Birmingham
Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT
Programme and Booking Information

Overcoming Dictatorships Touring Exhibition

The Rotunda Gallery,
Aston Webb Building,
University of Birmingham,
9 Oct.-9 Nov. 2008
(weekdays, 10-5; admission free)

The exhibition explores art produced in response to the collapse of political authoritarian systems, particularly those of the Soviet bloc in 1989. It aims to create a dialogue on post-dictatorial experiences among participants from countries designated as ‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’ Europe. The 17 works deal with processes of mourning, remembering and overcoming the past. They critique old collective identity formations (i.e. the Soviet bloc, National Socialism and Fascism), questioning western political and socio-economic uniformities (including the EU) and critically engage with ‘new’ dictatorships such as consumerism, globalisation and mass media. Overcoming Dictatorships aims to challenge compartmentalised thinking and thus attempts to overcome authoritarian systems.

Starting in Birmingham, where the exhibition will be opened by Professor Dr. Dr. Gerhard Besier (Chair in European Studies, Technische Universität, Dresden and main investigator of the project which this exhibition is part of), Rt. Hon. Neil Kinnock (Leader of the Opposition, 1983-92 and UK Commissioner of the EU, 1995-2004) and Professor Michael Sterling (Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham), this exhibition will travel to galleries in several European countries.

Artists participating in the exhibition:
Zbynĕk Benýšek - Zbigniew Czop - Mirela Dauceanu - Ulf Göpfert - Harald Hauswald - Silvestro Lodi - Vlad Nancă - Sándor Pinczehelyi - Michele Zaggia - Aleksander Zyśko.

Galleries presenting the exhibition:
Gallery U Frycza at the Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University College, Cracow (24 Nov.-14 Dec. 2008); “The Gallery 3/4 of The National Museum of Contemporary Art at the “Ion Luca Caragiale” National Theatre, Bucharest”, Bucharest (22 Dec 2008.-18 Jan. 2009); Open Society Archives Gallery, Budapest (24 Jan.-8 Feb. 2009); Gallery Torre Mirana, Trent (14 Feb.-8 Mar. 2009); Gallery Castle Dečin, Dečin (13 Mar.-31 Mar. 2009); Town Hall City of Dresden, Dresden (06 Apr.-26 Apr. 2009)

The exhibition is part of the EU-funded project (scheme: Culture 2000) on ‘Overcoming Dictatorships – the Encounter of Poets, Artists and Writers’ (main investigator/lead partner: Prof. Dr. Dr. Gerhard Besier, Chair in European Studies, Technische Universität, Dresden).

For further information about the exhibition see here.

Roles of the Visual in Overcoming Dictatorships

Conference
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, 9 Oct. 2008, 9-4

The conference (organised to mark the opening of the exhibition Overcoming Dictatorships, Aston Webb Building, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, 9 Oct.-9 Nov. 2008) will explore the intersections of the visual arts in mediating the political, socio-economic and cultural changes in post-dictatorial societies and the impact of such changes on cultural production. It brings together a select group of speakers whose research explores aspects of overcoming totalitarian and authoritarian systems in different disciplines but with a focus on the visual arts (and an emphasis on the period since 1989).

Dr. Sue Malvern (University of Reading) will examine works by women artists in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia and their legacies of feminism and dissidence in post-Communist Europe, while Maja Fowkes (UCL) and Dr. Reuben Fowkes (Manchester Metropolitan University and initiators of SocialEast Forum) will explore the reluctance to deal with live political questions through the case of Hungarian artist Csaba Nemes, asking whether it reflects more the legacy of local (art) histories or the newly-adopted rules of a politically acquiescent international art system. Dr. Rose Whyman (University of Birmingham) will consider trends in counter-culture art since the 1990s in Russia and Prof. Brandon Taylor (University of Southampton) will discuss the artistic culture of the British monarchy in recent decades to locate the ‘Dictatorship of the Bourgeoisie’. The concluding panel discussion will be chaired by Prof. Cillian Ryan (University of Birmingham).

The conference will be preceded by a round-table discussion with artists participating in the Overcoming Dictatorships exhibition (8 October 2008, 18.30, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham). Chaired by the off-site curator of the Ikon Gallery Helen Legg, it will focus on up and coming contemporary art groups in post-Communist countries and draw parallels with the situation immediately after 1989, when the former underground art replaced the official

For further information about the conference

see the programme and booking form
and
contact Press and Marketing

Harald Hauswald and the other face of the GDR

Life in the German Democratic Republic had two faces. One modeled and promoted by the government, and a second one, which many claim to be the real one. Information on the mood of the population and the general living conditions was classified top secret. If someone wanted to show what he deemed to call the real face of the country, s/he would suffer from libel and slander, discrimination and persecution.

One of those people was Harald Hauswald, who remained true to his artistic principles of depicting the country and its citizens in its actual condition. On his photographs people tend to look lonely and exhausted, cities appear grey and deserted. State authorities labeled him a provocateur and a public enemy because he did not refrain from publishing his pictures in West German journals like Stern, taz or GEO. In its operations State Security Service nicknamed him “Radfahrer” (Biker).

Taking Hauswald’s case as an example Marc Thümmler in his film “Radfahrer” tries to show us how the authorities tried to suppress dissenting voices and alternative perspectives. The film is also a retrospective demonstration of how deeply rooted Hauswald’s photography was in the reality of life in the GDR. Viewers are confronted with a sequence of photographs which is contrasted with Stasi files read from the off by Klaus Wiesinger. It is not only the obvious content which makes this film worth watching; some might recognize its remarkable quality to be understood as a parable on how different our perception and judgment of reality can be, according to which senses we rely on.

Shows:

10 May to 14 May at Tilsiter Lichtspiele (18:00)

1 August, 22 August at Free University Berlin (14:00)

13 September at Samariterkirche Berlin-Friedrichshain.

See a recent interpretation of Hauswald's oeuvre as part of "Ideological locations and dis-locations" (by Jutta Vinzent).

Present tensions. European writers on overcoming dictatorships

A literary anthology of the same title (eds. Kristina Kaiserová/Gert Röhrborn, Budapest:CEU Press 2008) will be presented at the Municipal Library in Trent, Italy on 9 May 2008, 17:30.

The volume is an intersection of literary works on the question of how dictatorships are overcome. The range of generations, European countries of origin and artistic directions that are represented serves both an advantage and a challenge reflected by this anthology. A considerable variety of motivations drove the participating poets and writers: such as putting into words a contemporary biography of persecution, the descendant’s feeling of personal historical responsibility, or the artistic curiosity of the “outsider”. The anthology is dedicated to the imaginative power of literature, and to Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe in particular. The formerly multicultural setting of these countries suffered the most from European dictatorships and their insufficiently processed legacies. The cultural transfer exhibited here will help reduce prejudices and promote new forms of understanding with Western Europe: it aims to further a diversified but common European culture.

The presentation will included readings by project writers Lutz Rathenow (Berlin), Gabriel Chifu (Bucharest) and Alessandro Tamburini (Trent). It is followed by an international conference on "Intellectuals and Dictatorship: A Comparative Perspective 1922-1990", organised by Prof. Gustavo Corni of Dipartimento di Scienze Umane e Sociali, Università di Trento on 10 May 2008, 09:00-18:00. For further information see the press coverage and the programme.

Organised with financial support of the European Commission and Università di Trento.