Congo as Fiction – Fiction as an Objective

European museums today can hardly avoid addressing the histories of their objects. Which sometimes turns out to be more successful, sometimes less. The exhibition FIKTION KONGO is currently on view at the Rietberg Museum in Zurich, where objects from the collection of ethnologist Hans Himmelheber are purposefully confronted with works by contemporary Congolese artists. A successful approach, says Ann Mbuti.

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To Watch the War. An Interview mit Olexii Kuchanskyi and Oleksiy Radynski.

For the proof of war crimes and the medial mediation of the events, but also for finding a language of violence, destruction, solidarity, compassion and resistance, the documentation of the events is essential. But what does it mean to document war? And what is the role of the arts, especially film? Film programmer Olexii Kuchanskyi and filmmaker Oleksiy Radynski have organized an exhibition named “To Watch the War,” which shows 18 films at the Coalmine – Raum für Fotografie. In conversation with Sandra Biberstein they talked about the developments in experimental film and video work since the invasion that began 2014 in an attempt to suppress the popular Maidan uprising in Ukraine.

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Im PET-Flaschenmeer. Ein Gespräch über die Ausstellung «Geometrie der Existenz»

In der Ausstellung «Geometrie der Existenz», die vom 13. Januar bis am 6. März 2022 in den oxyd Kunsträumen zu sehen ist, wirft das Künstlerduo Hauser & Herzog unbequeme Fragen auf: Ab wann gerät etwas aus dem Gleichgewicht? Welche Konsequenzen hat das eigene Handeln auf die Umwelt? Soll man die Natur einsperren, um sie zu schützen? Oder wäre es besser, sie zu befreien? Im Interview mit Sandra Biberstein sprechen Peter Hauser und Sebastian Herzog aber auch darüber, warum der Humor angesichts solcher Fragen nicht verloren gehen sollte.

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