4th Mediations Biennale Poznań
When Nowhere Becomes Here
September, 21 – October, 26, 2014
The 4th Mediations Biennale Poznań will be curated by four curators who will create three regional platforms: Shaheen Merali and Kerimcan Güleryüz / Berlin Heist; Harro Schmidt / Shifting Africa; and Sławomir Sobczak / Borders of Globalisation.
The founding and artistic director for the fourth edition of the biennale remains Tomek Wendland.
The 4th Mediations Biennale Poznań will be sited in Poznań’s multiple venues including the National Museum, the Raczyński Library, Zamek centre of culture and the Gallery of Jesuits. The disparate locations will create a focal series of exhibitions on the notion of the post-global by sharing each region’s particular nuanced understanding of a perspective related to its own geo-political, economical, social, religious, cultural and artistic context.
The upheavals in these regions have created a tremendous shift in civil and artistic society and artistic discourse has reflected on these changes by producing works that furthers our understanding of their collective experiences. Here is where we stand, here is where and when nowhere becomes somewhere, vis-à-vis contemporary culture and its presence. It is the city, the country or the region as a site of practice, assisting the search for meaning, in which artists as individuals or in groups form part of its designated witness as they view the transformed and search within its residue.
With sensitivity to these evolving and often speculative developments (as notated by artists), the audience in Poznań and Poland comprehend the influences, as they affect lived realities from differing points of observations. In employing art and culture as a contemporary communicative language of expression, the series of exhibitions provides a space to understand and acknowledge the details and provides perspectives (direct and mediated) of these turbulent post-global times.
Exhibitions:
I. Berlin Heist
or the enduring fascination with walled cities
Curators: Shaheen Merali and Kerimcan Güleryüz
Curatorial assistance: Marta San Gregorio and Malgosia Wosinska
Venue: National Museum (Tues – Thurs: 11am – 3pm, Fri 12am – 7pm, Sat & Sun: 11am – 6pm, Mon: Closed) and the Raczyński Library (Tues – Fri: 11am – 7pm, Sat: 11am – 5pm, Sun & Mon: Closed)
Artists: Artists Anonymous, Kader Attia, Marc Bijl, Thorsten Brinkmann, Nezaket Ekici, Azin Feizabadi, Thomas Florschuetz, Simon Fujiwara, Carla Guagliardi, Johannes Kahrs, Jonathan Meese, Leila Pazooki, Julian Rosefeldt, Enis Rotthoff, Esra Rotthoff, Christoph Schlingensief, Iris Schomaker, Lars Teichmann, Mathilde ter Heijne, Ming Wong, Michael Wutz, Thomas Zipp
II. Shifting Africa
Curator: Harro Schmidt
Co-curators: Raphael Chikukwa, National Gallery Harare, Zimbabwe / Serge Olivier Fokoua, RAVY-Festival Yaounde, Kamerun / Martin Baasch, Lagos Live Festival, Nigeria / Jelili O. Atiku, AFiRIperFOMA Festival Harare, Zimbabwe
Venue: Gallery of Jesuits, ARTykwariat, Bazar Poznanski and public spaces
Artists: Jude Anogwih / Nigeria, Jelili Atiku / Nigeria, Edson Chagas / Angola, Virginia Chihota / Zimbabwe, Jim Chuchu / Kenya, Julie Djikey / DR Congo, Em`kal Eyongakpa / Cameroon, Christian Etongo / Cameroon, Serge Olivier Fokoua / Cameroon, Sam Hopkins / Kenya, Hervé Yamguen / Cameroon, Portia Zvavahera / Zimbabwe, Rolf Bier / Germany, Wolf Böwig / Germany, Dennis Feser / Germany, Kristian von Hornsleth / Denmark, Norbert Meissner / Germany, Tom Otto / Germany, Peter Puype / Belgium, Claudia Wissmann / Germany
III. Borders of Globalisation
Polish Art Tomorrow
Curator: Sławomir Sobczak
Co-curator: Katarzyna Kucharska
Venue: Centrum Kultury Zamek
Artists: Ewa Axelrad, Michał Bałdyga, Piotr Bosacki, Izabela Chamczyk, Rafał Czępiński, Elvin Flamingo, Agelika Fojtuch, Mikołaj Grospierre, Jakub Jasiukiewicz, Kornel Janczy, Ola Kozioł, Tomasz Kulka, Artur Malewski, Marcin Mierzicki, Lilianna Piskorska, Michał Szlaga, Katarzyna Szeszycka, Natalia Wiśniewska.
Image: Julian Rosefeldt, Deep Gold, 2013, 1-channel film, b/w, sound, HD, 18 min 12 sec loop. Courtesy Mediations Biennale Poznań