Tag Archive for: Multimediale Kunst

Exhibition – Mélodie Mousset and Ittah Yoda

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AKTIVES TERRAIN N°3

Mélodie Mousset and Ittah Yoda 
Dander the Symbiocene      

curated by Stephan Klee

Programme
Sat 26 Jul 5 pm
Vernissage
open till 8 pm

Sun 24 Aug / Sun 31 Aug
each at 3 pm
Sunday Tour with Joos Ziegler

Sat 06 Sep 3 – 6 pm
Finissage
presenting the Edition of the Exhibition
4 pm
guided “Walk and Talk” through the exhibition
with the curator Stephan Klee
5 pm
closure

In order to be able to plan better, we look forward to receiving your reservations for individual programme items at info@kunstvereingoettingen.de or klee@kunstvereingoettingen.de or by telephone on 0551-44899

Event picture: Graphic by Stephan Klee, source: Alamy, all rights reserved by KV Göttingen

In summer 2025, artist Mélodie Mousset and art duo Virginie Ittah and Kai Yoda present a multimedia terrain on the first floor of the Künstlerhaus Göttingen that encloses the visitors and appeals to many senses, including touch and smell. The intertwining installations range from the origins of cave painting to virtually generated landscapes, played through VR glasses. One of the core works is the installation HanaHana by Swiss French artist Mélodie Mousset. This interactive virtual reality experience, which has been developed further over the years, offers guests the opportunity to walk through various virtual landscapes with the help of controllers, while actively shaping and generating them. The freedom, beauty and safety in HanaHana feels remarkable, and opens up a completely digitally generated alternative world, a material-free ‘safe space’ of a special kind.
HanaHana‘s simulation room will be embedded in a far-reaching exhibition design by the French-Japanese art duo Ittah Yoda. The two are working together to combine sculpture, painting and installation with technically advanced media such as LED screens, virtual reality and augmented reality. The two have coined the term ‘Symbiocene’ for these intertwined spaces between tangible materiality and digital vision, and they see their projects as utopian designs for a sustainable symbiosis of ecological cycles and technology.
Thematically, the exhibition offers an innovative examination of the visual culture of humans in Europe in their interaction with the surrounding landscape. As a source of inspiration, both positions share a fascination for the cave paintings of Lascoux and Chauvet and others, i.e. the first permanent images of the inhabitants of a region. These early testimonies can be understood as an act of self-assurance, as a permanent testimony to one’s own existence, as a visual archiving of fellow creatures or as cultic communication with the environment. These are all impulses that have always driven the creation of art. Inspired by these archaic testimonies of cultural self-empowerment, both Ittah Yoda and Mélodie Mousset explore in their works, among other things, the question: “How can the specificity of a territory be embodied today?” – “Or how can completely new imaginary terrains be created on the basis of our cultural history?” In their free, rather associative research, they largely detach themselves from real geographical conditions in comparison to other, more conceptual positions in the annual programme TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS. They negotiate concepts such as “landscape”, “place” and “production” more in dialogue with the anthropological and cultural appropriation of this theme by people in the course of cultural history. It is therefore more about the ideas of landscape than about current, actual geographical upheavals in the culmination of the Anthropocene. This exhibition thus not only adds important aspects to the annual programme, but also builds a bridge to the fantastic and surrealist tendencies of the 2024 TERRA DIASPORRA – WELTEN WANDELN annual programme.
In addition to our reliable supporting institutions, this time the additional support from the Lower Saxony Foundation and the Institut Français in particular enables the Kunstverein team to tackle and realise this exhibition concept at the cutting edge of technology and art in Göttingen.

 

THE EDITION OF THE EXHIBITION

 

 

Mélodie Mousset
HanaHana, 2017–2025
The printed edition for the Kunstverein Göttingen

Edition of 12 + 5 AP
H 29.7 cm x W 42 cm,
Archival inkjet pigment print (Fine Art Long Duration Inkjet Print) on HAHNEMÜHLE PHOTO RAG,
velvety – matte, natural white, acid-free, 100% cellulose, 308 g/sqm

The interactive virtual reality experience HanaHana, developed over many years by Swiss-French Artist Mélodie Mousset, offers visitors the opportunity to wander through various virtual landscapes with the help of controllers, while continuously reshaping these landscapes in a generative manner. The freedom, beauty, and safety in HanaHana feel remarkable and open up a completely digitally generated alternative world, a material-free “safe space” of a special kind. It is a great honor for us that Mélodie Mousset has now generated the first physically tangible work from the HanaHana universe as an edition print exclusively for the Kunstverein Göttingen. By purchasing this work, you are helping the Kunstverein to continue presenting such experimental works to the public.

> If you are interested, please contact us here: klee@kunstvereingoettingen.de

 

VITA Mélodie Mousset
Mélodie Mousset (*1981, Abu Dhabi) is a French artist who lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland. Mousset’s works oscillate between virtual and physical worlds, focusing on the physicality of the human body and the potential virtuality of the mind. Mousset works with numerous media for her investigations around the body, including installation, performance, sculpture, photography, video and virtual reality.
 Her work draws on personal biography to create playful and surreal narratives that explore the interactions between the self and technology. Her works are often intended to challenge the senses; elements are juxtaposed and transformed to create uncanny and whimsical assemblages in which the body becomes a site of physical and mental exchange with technology.

The artist studied at the École des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, the ECAL (Lausanne) and the Royal College of Arts (London) and completed her training in 2011 with a Master of Fine Arts at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts).

Her projects have been exhibited in galleries and institutions worldwide since 2010, including the MOCA (Museum Of Contemporary Arts, Los Angeles), the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, the MAC (Musée d’Art Contemporain, Lyon), The Metropolitan Art Society (Beirut) and the SALTS (Basel).
 In 2015, she was the winner of the Swiss Art Award. Her most recent work HanaHana, which was shown at the Zabludowicz Collection (London) in 2018, received seven awards, including the prize for the best artistic virtual reality experience at the VR Festival (Beijing), the prize for the best artistic achievement at the VR Days Festival 2017 and most recently the Visions Prize at the VR Arles Festival 2019. The artist’s most recent solo exhibitions included Intra-Aura at Last Tango (Zurich) in 2018. HanaHana was shown at Galerie V Glavnom (Tomsk, Russia) in 2018 and at Galerie Roehrs & Boetsch (Zurich) in 2019. She will soon be exhibiting at Swissnex (San Francisco).

more information >> https://fabbula.com/artists/hanahana-by-melodie-mousset/

 

VITA Ittah Yoda
The duo Ittah Yoda, consisting of Virgile Ittah and Kai Yoda, was formed after they met at the Royal College of London, where one was studying sculpture and the other photography and animation. From the beginning, they were fascinated by the natural and digital worlds and began working on the idea of a post-anthropocene world in which these two elements coexist harmoniously, what they call the ‘symbiosis’. While virtual reality occupies a central place in their work and serves as a matrix and maturation process, all the forms that later materialise in painting, sculpture and installation represent an ecosystem of their own, inspired by organic forms and materials and developed in collaboration with numerous artisans. Each of Ittah Yoda’s projects represents a step towards the realisation of this ideal symbiotic ecosystem, in which the media used and the objects created embody and transmit ‘genetic-artistic’ information from their environment. Although they are orientated towards an idea of the future, their work is rooted in art history, drawing in particular on references such as cave paintings and pigment painting techniques.

Recent exhibitions include Bally Foundation, Lugano (CH), ROH Projects, Jakarta (ID), Collection Lambert, Avignon (FR), CIAPV, Vassiviere (FR), Paris + by Art Basel, Paris (FR), the Armory Show, New York (US), the Rencontres d’Arles, Arles (FR), Poush Manifesto, Paris (FR), the Centre Culturel Jean Cocteau, Les Lilas (FR), the Musée des Beaux Arts d’Angers (FR), Hagiwara Projects, Tokyo (JP), Sprout Curation, Tokyo (JP), Cité International des Arts, Paris (FR), Frieze N°9 Cork Street, London (UK), ARCO Madrid, Madrid (ES), etc.

more information >> https://ittahyoda.com/

 

The annual programme 2025
TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS

TERRA DIASPORA is the leitmotif of the Kunstverein Göttingen 2024–2025. In view of fundamental upheavals in the coexistence of nature and mankind, TERRA DIASPORA stands for a world on the move; for a terrain that is becoming increasingly alien to its inhabitants and for an earth on which people are becoming foreign bodies. It is an earth in a foreign land, a terra diaspora.
After the first part of the TERRA DIASPORA – WELTEN WANDELN programme series in 2024 explored contemporary forms of fantastic, figurative art, TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS is the Kunstverein’s current motto for 2025. As the second part of the comprehensive TERRA DIASPORA exhibition series, the fundamental distortions in the relationship between nature and man in our present day are shown and discussed here using real geographical case studies and the creative reaction of artists to precisely these conditions in Göttingen. This annual programme is also developed and supervised by curator Stephan Klee together with the participating artists and related curators.

 

We would like to thank our sponsors:: , Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Siftung Niedersachsen, Stadt Göttingen, Sparkasse Göttingen, Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V. und Institut Français

Exhibition – TERRA DIASPORA

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TERRA DIASPORA – Actives Terrain N°2
“Collapse is not a destination, it is a process”

Julius von Bismarck, Julian Charrière, Marjolijn Dijkman, Raphaël Fischer-Dieskau,
Andreas Greiner, Robert Gschwantner, Spiros Hadjidjanos, Kapwani Kiwanga,
Almut Linde, Ulrike Mohr, Mazenett Quiroga, Marike Schuurman, Raul Walch

curated by Dr. Almut Hüfler and Stephan Klee

 

PROGRAMME

Fri 13 Jun 5 – 8 pm
Vernissage – Opening Reception with
– 5 pm: Welcome speeches
– 5 pm: Release of the new Edition by Spiros Hadjidjanos

Sat 14 Jun 3 – 10 pm
Pro City Nacht der Kultur
– 3 pm: Guided tour with the curators
– 5 pm: Talk with Dr. Almut Hüfler,
Prof. Dr. Almut Linde and Dr. Didem Aydurmus

Sun 22 Jun / Sun 06 Jul /
Sun 20 Jul / Sun 03 Aug
each at 3 pm
Sunday tour with Joos Ziegler

Sun 21 Sep 3 – 5 pm
Finissage – Closure
– 3 pm Panel Talk

 

Sun 21 September, 11 am – 5 pm
The Grand Finissage
11 am
Guided tour of the exhibition with curator Stephan Klee
2 – 5 pm
A three-part panel discussion on the theme of the exhibition
2 pm
Dr. Almut Hülfler (co-curator) in dialogue with the author Sven Hartberger
3 pm
Johana Meyer (Kunstverein Göttingen) presents active protagonists and developments in Göttingen
4 pm
Dr Almut Hüfler moderates the open closing discussion:
‘What can culture offer in times of ecological collapse?’
with Nils König (Kunst e.V. Göttingen) and Stephan Klee (artistic director, Kunstverein Göttingen)

Snacks and drinks will be provided during the breaks. Relevant books on the topic – including works by Sven Hartberger – will be available for purchase. The exhibition editions will be on display, and we look forward to seeing you there and hearing your contributions to the discussion.

To enable us to plan better, we would be delighted to receive your reservations for individual programme items at info@kunstvereingoettingen.de or klee@kunstvereingoettingen.de or by telephone on 0551-44899

Event image: Graphic by Stephan Klee, all rights reserved by the author and frontviews

In the second year of TERRA DIASPORA, the central group exhibition Active Terrain N°2 brings together thirteen artistic positions in Göttingen’s Old Town Hall. The works on display, executed in various media such as sculpture, photography, drawing and video, all deal with the discrepancy between the ecological crisis of our planet and how people perceive it. In view of the magnitude and often great distance of human intervention and its consequences over a long period of time, this crisis can be recognised as an acute danger: This is because the complexity of these processes undermines the evolutionarily determined human response options to dangers, so that necessary countermeasures are repeatedly ‘postponed’ in the face of acute emergency situations such as wars, economic crises, etc. As a result, ecological collapse is already taking place without humanity being able to respond adequately. Or as Ugo Bardi, member of the Club of Rome, put it in 2022: ‘Collapse is not a destination, it is a process “*
The exhibition picks up on this phenomenon with a walk-in field of exhibition installations and makes these developments directly tangible – using the example of the two thematic areas ‘Processes in the forest’ and ‘Processes in the soil’. This is essentially made possible by the close connection of the works to real transformation processes from many globally distributed terrains: not only are the relevant places and their changes shown visually and acoustically, but often the affected, original material itself is also used artistically in real in the gallery space, so that the works shown can offer a material translation of external geological-industrial processes.
Like the mineral trickling of an hourglass, the artistic settings make a dilemma of the capitalist growth paradigm and the implications of our lifestyle directly and sensually comprehensible: That the long-term effects of short-term profitable productions are already going on tirelessly underground, but are not adequately incorporated into the planning and actions of the economy. The collected works as a whole become a polyphonic canon of consumption with a real core and the exhibition unfolds as an activated cabinet of curiosities of the urgent ecological upheavals of modern times in a fortified merchant guild house from the High Middle Ages.

*Quote: Ugo Bardi in ‘Limits and Beyond: 50 years on from The Limits to Growth, what did we learn and what’s next?’, 2022

 

THE EDITION OF THE EXHIBITION

 


Spiros Hadjidjanos

Chemicals are Internal to Us, 2022–2025

Edition of 12 + 5 AP
,
29.7 cm x W 42 cm,
Archival inkjet pigment print (Fine Art Long Duration Inkjet Print) on HAHNEMÜHLE PHOTO RAG,
velvety – matte, natural white, acid-free, 100% cellulose, 308 g/sqm

Courtesy of the artist
Price: €320 / €240 for members of KV Göttingen

Here, the artist presents a brilliantly surrealistic homage to the elemental semiconductor silicon, which
is not only indispensable in many areas of the electronics industry, but also plays a key role as a natural substance in organic bodies, among other things, in holding tissue together. The motif thus humorously embodies our deep, material exchange with the terrestrial environment. By purchasing this edition, you are supporting the work of our association in a particularly sustainable and meaningful way.

 

The annual programme 2025
TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS

TERRA DIASPORA is the leitmotif of the Kunstverein Göttingen 2024–2025. In view of fundamental upheavals in the coexistence of nature and mankind, TERRA DIASPORA stands for a world on the move; for a terrain that is becoming increasingly alien to its inhabitants and for an earth on which people are becoming foreign bodies. It is an earth in a foreign land, a terra diaspora.
After the first part of the TERRA DIASPORA – WELTEN WANDELN programme series in 2024 explored contemporary forms of fantastic, figurative art, TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS is the Kunstverein’s current motto for 2025. As the second part of the comprehensive TERRA DIASPORA exhibition series, the fundamental distortions in the relationship between nature and man in our present day are shown and discussed here using real geographical case studies and the creative reaction of artists to precisely these conditions in Göttingen. This annual programme is also developed and supervised by curator Stephan Klee together with the participating artists and related curators.

We would like to thank our sponsors: Niedersächsische Sparkassen Stiftung, Sparkasse Göttingen, Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Stadt Göttingen,  and Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V.

Finissage Asef–Burckhardt

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Finissage
Sunday,  23 February 2025 at 3 pm


ACTIVE TERRAIN N°1
Asef–Burckhardt
SHELTER–BONE
Love in Tough Times

To mark the joint conclusion of the first exhibition of the year, we cordially invite you to the finissage at the Künstlerhaus Göttingen on Sunday, 23 February 2025 at 3 pm. Right at the beginning, the creators of the exhibition, the art duo Asef-Burckhardt, together with the curator Stephan Klee, will host a final tour through the greatly altered rooms. This offers the opportunity to gain direct insights into the work and thoughts of the duo and to enter into further discussions with them and the curator. The exhibition edition can also be viewed again and purchased if you like it – an important support for the work of the Kunstverein.

Sun 23 Feb 2025, 3 – 5 pm
Finissage–Reception with
– 3 pm: Joint tour with artists and curator
– 4 pm: Closure

event image: Asef–Burckhardt SHELTER–BONE, 2023 – 2025, photo creditss: Asef–Burckhardt, VG Bildkunst

 

 

 

…

The wooden residential and communal buildings of Sea Ranch in the north of San Francisco were developed and built in the 1960s by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin and his wife, choreographer Anna Halprin, together with other ecologic avant-garde thinkers; the buildings are integrated into the rugged cliffs of the Pacific in an exemplary manner. Since then, the settlement has continued to grow and still sets international standards for the interplay between architecture and nature – in other words, “protection” and “environment”.

The works on display in SHELTER-BONE, the current project by the art duo and couple Asef-Burckhardt, are based on extensive periods of research and work in the visionary settlement in Northern California and question, among other things, the current relevance of the original utopia of The Sea Ranch. Against the acute backdrop of the global environmental crisis, new anthropological questions such as “What must architecture connect today?” and “What must love achieve today?” are raised and artistically explored in close relation to this real topography. Consisting of combined, multimedia works, the project is currently being expanded and further developed to be shown in changing settings at international exhibition venues. The Kunstverein is very pleased to be able to show this complex of works in Göttingen under the leitmotif: “What does protection mean in our time?
…

The annual programme 2025 of the Kunstverein Göttingen TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS is developed by curator Stephan Klee together with the participating artists. The duo Asef-Burckhardt will kick off the fresh year with an all–encompassing, sensory–appealing exhibition consisting of several installations, which takes the viewer directly into the beach forests of California, characterised by the forces of nature.
Kirstin Burckhardt (* Durban, South Africa) is an artist and psychotherapist who uses visual and performative means to explore the interactions and emotional bonds between people. Her work focuses on aspects of the body, gesture, touch, communication, and friendship. Mario Asef (* Córdoba, Argentina) is an artist and architect who focuses on the complex interactions in the ecological networks of diverse species in wild and urban nature supported by his distinctive expertise in visual–acoustic recording techniques. Together as the duo Asef-Burkhardt, they not only unfold The Sea Ranch as a multifaceted place of longing for a common artistic quest but also elevate this specific terrain to their guiding coordinates of a new form of dual action between affection and real urgency. With this lively fusion of artistic field research and a productive network of relationships, the Kunstverein Göttingen is taking the first step into the new exhibition year.

We would like to thank our sponsors: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Stadt Göttingen, Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V. und Sparkasse Göttingen

The Long Afternoon of Art: Asef–Burckhardt

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The Long Afternoon of Art
Saturday, 15 February 2025, starting at 3 pm


ACTIVE TERRAIN N°1
Asef–Burckhardt
SHELTER–BONE
Love in Tough Times

It’s time again for the Long Afternoon of Art at the Kunstverein Göttingen. This time it is dedicated to the multimedia installations of the art duo and couple Asef-Burckhardt and offers plenty of time and opportunity to explore the complex of works in greater depth.
After an open dialogue tour of the exhibition with the curator Stephan Klee starting at 3 pm, we will meet at 5 pm for a panel discussion about the exhibition between Asef-Burckhardt and Elena Engelbrechter from the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg. Stephan Klee will moderate the debate, which will be held in German. The trialogue follows the motto ‘Love in Tough Times’ and explores the duo’s experiences and insights on and with the Sea Ranch in Northern California. The dialogue will not only address the protective potential of architecture and landscape, but also the extent to which social relationships and affection could be another form of ‘shelter’ in a turbulent world. As is so often the case with our exhibition talks, the podium will be opened up to the audience and there will be an opportunity for joint discussion with the guests.
The late afternoon will end with a lively round of talks, with snacks and drinks provided. We look forward to seeing you there, which will be possible throughout the afternoon.

Sat 15 Feb 25, 3 – 7 pm
The Long Afternoon of Art: SHELTER-BONE
– 3 pm: Guided tour and talk – through the exhibition with curator Stephan Klee
– 5 pm: Panel discussion with Asef-Burckhardt and Elena Engelbrechter: Love in Tough Times
– 6 pm: Closure
The artists and the curator will be on-site the whole time, snacks and drinks will be served.

event images: Asef–Burckhardt SHELTER–BONE, 2023 – 2025, photo credits: Asef–Burckhardt, VG Bildkunst

 

 

 

…

The residential and office buildings of the Sea Ranch in the north of San Francisco are integrated into the rugged cliffs of the Pacific. Strong, salt-soaked winds from the sea, rugged rocks in fine sand, and ancient redwood forests characterise the landscape here. The wooden buildings were largely developed and initiated by the landscape architect Lawrence Halprin and his wife, the choreographer Anna Halprin, in the 1960s in an ecologically avant-garde community of multi-professional collaborators. Since then, the settlement has continued to grow and still sets international standards for the interplay between architecture and nature – in other words, „protection” and „environment“. But what remains of the Halprins’ utopia at the time – „to live lightly on the land“ and the idealism of a sensitive approach to the environment for us today?

SHELTER-BONE, the current project by the artist couple Asef-Burckhardt, is based on extensive periods of research and work in this visionary settlement in Northern California and presents works created on-site and in Berlin. Against the acute backdrop of the global environmental crisis, new anthropological questions such as ‘What must architecture connect today?’ and ‘What must love achieve today?’ are raised and artistically re-explored in close relation to this real topography. Consisting of combined, multimedia works, the project is currently being actively expanded and further developed in order to be shown in changing settings at international exhibition venues. The Kunstverein is very pleased to be able to show this complex of works in Göttingen under the leitmotif: ‘What does shelter mean in our time?
…

The annual programme 2025 of the Kunstverein Göttingen TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS is developed by curator Stephan Klee together with the participating artists. The duo Asef-Burckhardt will kick off the fresh year with an all–encompassing, sensory–appealing exhibition consisting of several installations, which takes the viewer directly into the beach forests of California, characterised by the forces of nature.
Kirstin Burckhardt (* Durban, South Africa) is an artist and psychotherapist who uses visual and performative means to explore the interactions and emotional bonds between people. Her work focuses on aspects of the body, gesture, touch, communication, and friendship. Mario Asef (* Córdoba, Argentina) is an artist and architect who focuses on the complex interactions in the ecological networks of diverse species in wild and urban nature supported by his distinctive expertise in visual–acoustic recording techniques. Together as the duo Asef-Burkhardt, they not only unfold The Sea Ranch as a multifaceted place of longing for a common artistic quest but also elevate this specific terrain to their guiding coordinates of a new form of dual action between affection and real urgency. With this lively fusion of artistic field research and a productive network of relationships, the Kunstverein Göttingen is taking the first step into the new exhibition year.

We would like to thank our sponsors: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Stadt Göttingen, Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V. und Sparkasse Göttingen

Vernissage Asef–Burckhardt

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Vernissage
Saturday,  11 January at 5 pm


ACTIVE TERRAIN N°1
Asef–Burckhardt
SHELTER–BONE
Love in Tough Times

We warmly welcome you to the Vernissage on Saturday, January 11, 2025, at 5 pm on the second floor of the Künstlerhaus Göttingen. We will begin with a note of welcome and thanks from the board and a short introductory speech by curator Stephan Klee. Afterward, the various multimedia works will be activated and can be seen and heard for the first time in Göttingen. Among other pieces, the key video installation SHELTER-BONE will be projected in Cinema–Scope format in the main room. During the rest of the opening, the artist Kirstin Burckhardt will realize the performance Burned Song, 2024 by Asef–Burckhardt in personal interaction with the audience. The artist couple Asef-Burckhardt and the curator will be present throughout the event and will be open for further questions and conversations.

Sat 11 Jan 2025 5 – 8 pm
Vernissage – Reception with
– 5:00 pm: Welcome speeches
≈ 5:30 pm: Performance by Kirstin Burckhardt: Burned Song, 2024 by Asef–Burckhardt

all event images: Asef–Burckhardt SHELTER–BONE, 2023 – 2025, photo rights: Asef–Burckhardt, VG Bildkunst

 

 

 

…

The wooden residential and communal buildings of Sea Ranch in the north of San Francisco were developed and built in the 1960s by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin and his wife, choreographer Anna Halprin, together with other ecologic avantgarde thinkers; the buildings are integrated into the rugged cliffs of the Pacific in an exemplary manner. Since then, the settlement has continued to grow and still sets international standards for the interplay between architecture and nature – in other words, “protection” and “environment”.

The works on display in SHELTER-BONE, the current project by the art duo and couple Asef-Burckhardt, are based on extensive periods of research and work in the visionary settlement in Northern California and question, among other things, the current relevance of the original utopia of The Sea Ranch. Against the acute backdrop of the global environmental crisis, new anthropological questions such as “What must architecture connect today?” and “What must love achieve today?” are raised and artistically explored in close relation to this real topography. Consisting of combined, multimedia works, the project is currently being expanded and further developed in order to be shown in changing settings at international exhibition venues. The Kunstverein is very pleased to be able to show this complex of works in Göttingen under the leitmotif: “What does protection mean in our time?
…

The annual programme 2025 of the Kunstverein Göttingen TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS is developed by curator Stephan Klee together with the participating artists. The duo Asef-Burckhardt will kick off the fresh year with an all–encompassing, sensory–appealing exhibition consisting of several installations, which takes the viewer directly into the beach forests of California, characterised by the forces of nature.
Kirstin Burckhardt (* Durban, South Africa) is an artist and psychotherapist who uses visual and performative means to explore the interactions and emotional bonds between people. Her work focuses on aspects of the body, gesture, touch, communication, and friendship. Mario Asef (* Córdoba, Argentina) is an artist and architect who focuses on the complex interactions in the ecological networks of diverse species in wild and urban nature supported by his distinctive expertise in visual–acoustic recording techniques. Together as the duo Asef-Burkhardt, they not only unfold The Sea Ranch as a multifaceted place of longing for a common artistic quest but also elevate this specific terrain to their guiding coordinates of a new form of dual action between affection and real urgency. With this lively fusion of artistic field research and a productive network of relationships, the Kunstverein Göttingen is taking the first step into the new exhibition year.

We would like to thank our sponsors: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Stadt Göttingen, Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V. und Sparkasse Göttingen

Exhibition Asef–Burckhardt

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ACTIVE TERRAIN N°1
Asef–Burckhardt
SHELTER–BONE
Love in Tough Times

event image: Asef–Burckhardt SHELTER–BONE, 2022 – 2025, copyrights: Asef–Burckhardt, VG Bildkunst Bonn


Programme

Sat 11 Jan 2025, 5:00 – 8:00 pm
Vernissage – Reception with
– 5:00 pm: Welcome speeches
≈5:30 pm: Performance by Kirstin Burckhardt

Sat 15 Feb 2025, 3:00 – 7:00 pm
The Long Afternoon of Art with
– 3:00 pm: Curator’s tour of the exhibition with Stephan Klee
– 5:00 pm: Exhibition talk with Asef-Burckhardt and Elena Engelbrechter, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg
The duo Asef-Burckhardt and the curator Stephan Klee will be on-site

Sun 23 Feb 2025, 3:00 – 5:00 pm
Finissage
– 3:00 pm: Guided tour of the exhibition with the curator Stephan Klee
– 4:00 pm: Closure

In order to be able to plan better, we would be delighted to receive your reservations for individual programme items at info@kunstvereingoettingen.de or klee@kunstvereingoettingen.de or by telephone at 0551-44899

THE EDITION OF THE SHOW

 


Asef-Burckhardt
Hand-Charcoal-Song – Edition, 2024

Edition of 12 + 5 AP
H 22 cm x W 40 cm
Archival inkjet pigment print
(Fine Art Long Duration Inkjet Print) on
EFI GRAVURE PROOF PAPER, semi-gloss
warm white, 245g/sqm, microceramic PE-coated

Courtesy of the artists
Price: 320 € / 240 € for members of KV Göttingen

With this edition, Asef-Burckhardt publishes the striking title motif of their exhibition at the Kunstverein, in which the transformation of our natural resources and the gesture of attentive ‘giving protection’ come together in an impressive way. We are very happy to be able to offer this extraordinary photograph in a small edition and thank the art duo for their great support of our work here for contemporary, young art in Göttingen.

> If you are interested, please contact us here: info@kunstvereingoettingen.de

 

 

Asef–Burckhardt
SHELTER–BONE
Love in Tough Times

The residential and community buildings of Sea Ranch in the north of San Francisco are integrated into the rugged cliffs of the Pacific. Strong, salt–soaked winds from the sea, rugged rocks in fine sand, and ancient redwood forests characterise the landscape here. The wooden buildings were largely developed and initiated by the landscape architect Lawrence Halprin and his wife, the choreographer Anna Halprin, in the 1960s in an ecologically avant-garde community of multi–professional collaborators. Since then, the estate has continued to grow and still sets international standards for the interplay between architecture and nature – in other words, ‘protection’ and ‘environment’. But what remains of the Halprins’ utopia at the time – “to live lightly on the land” and the idealism of a sensitive approach to the environment for us today?

SHELTER-BONE, the current project by the art duo and life couple Asef-Burckhardt, is based on extensive periods of research and work in this visionary settlement in Northern California and presents the works created on-site and in Berlin. Against the acute backdrop of the global environmental crisis, new anthropological questions such as ‘What must architecture connect today?’ and ‘What must love achieve today?’ are raised and artistically explored in close relation to this real topography. Consisting of combined, multimedia works, the project is currently being actively expanded and further developed in order to be shown in changing settings at international exhibition venues. The Kunstverein is very pleased to be able to show this complex of works in Göttingen under the leitmotif: ‘What does protection mean in our time?

Asef–Burckhardt’s multi–layered approach is strongly inspired by the Halprin couple, both in terms of an emotional connection in working together and the parallels to the founding couple’s lives: with Lawrence Halprin as a landscape architect and Anna Halprin as a dancer and performer specialising in ‘embodied healing’, the professional constellation between the two couples is very similar. Interestingly, Mario Asef studied architecture before studying art (where he first heard about the Sea Ranch) and Kirstin Burckhardt is both a performer and a psychologist. The artist couple Halprin had a strong commitment to their surroundings through their joint artistic and interpersonal activities. Not to isolate themselves as ‘lovers’ but to strengthen each other to work together for community building and ecology is also the inspiration for this project.

The fact that Kirstin Burckhardt and Mario Asef activate an expressive unity on the basis of their own relationship and make their network of relationships with the place and its inhabitants the genuine centre of their dual, creative expression underlines the relevance of this shared living and protective space. SHELTER-BONE can therefore also be seen as a contemporary variant of Relational Art: It is not the material, finished object that is the actual work of art, but integrative, social and bio-terrestrial exchange processes that are expressed, manifested and mixed in the presentation in a variety of ways. These include performances on site and in the exhibition space, multimedia recordings of temporary practices in sound and film, artistic research that materialises in archives and artworks, and relationship work. Together as the Asef-Burckhardt duo, they unfold the coastal strip of the Sea Ranch not only as a multi-faceted place of longing for a shared artistic quest in the Far West, but also elevate this specific terrain to their guiding coordinates of a new form of dual action between affection and real urgency. With this lively fusion between artistic field research and a productive network of relationships, the Kunstverein Göttingen is taking the first step into the new exhibition year.

 

Kirstin Burckhardt (b. Durban, South Africa) is a visual artist and psychotherapist who combines video and performance with sound and spoken word. Drawing on her training in psychology and neuroscience, her work critically explores the power dynamics interwoven with the body. By constantly questioning what constitutes a ‘body’, her artistic research focuses on the interpersonal space as a site for negotiating sensitivity, conflict, empathy, transgenerational trauma and the complexity of healing.
 She studied at Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg (Germany), at École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts Lyon (France) and at the Academy of Art Hangzhou (China). At the same time, she studied psychology at the University of Hamburg and works as a clinical psychotherapist in Berlin. Her work has been exhibited internationally in solo and group exhibitions at the KINDL Berlin Centre for Contemporary Art, KAI 10 | Arthena Foundation, Deichtorhallen/Sammlung Falckenberg Hamburg, Hamburger Bahnhof Berlin, Exploratorio in Medellín (COL) and the Goethe Institute Sofia (BUL) and LA (USA). She has worked closely with performing and visual artists from China, Sweden and Colombia and has received work grants from the Fonds Darstellende Künste, the ifa Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, the Elbkulturfonds and the working grant of the City of Hamburg.
more information: http://k-burckhardt.de

Mario Asef (born in Córdoba, Argentina) is a Berlin-based architect and conceptual artist. Flanked by his extensive expressive possibilities in acoustics and moving image, his projects mainly deal with theoretical and materialised constructions of humanoid-cultivated space, be it the built city or the domesticated landscape. He is also particularly interested in the ecological systems of microorganisms such as lichens and fungi, which form the generative basis of our planet’s flora and fauna. 
 He studied architecture at the University of Architecture and Urban Development in Córdoba, Argentina (Dpl.), and art at Chelsea College for Art and Design in London, England, at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe and at the University of the Arts (UdK) in Berlin, Germany, where he obtained a Master’s degree. His work has been exhibited worldwide, most recently at the Daegu Photo Biennale (South Korea), Quartier 21 (Museumsquartier, Vienna), Wild Palms (Düsseldorf), Silent Green (Berlin), Junge Kunst e.V. (Wolfsburg, Germany), Kasa Galerie (Istanbul), Samzie Space (Seoul), HAUNT/ frontviews (Berlin). Recent museum exhibitions include Hamburger Kunsthalle, Villa Merkel (Esslingen, Germany), Künstlerhaus Bregenz (Austria) and Akademie der Künste Berlin. Since 2014 he has been organising exhibitions, festivals and lectures for Errant Sound e.V., a project space for sound art in Berlin.
more information: https://marioasef.net

The Annual Programme 2025
TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS

TERRA DIASPORA is the leitmotif of the Kunstverein Göttingen 2024-2025. In view of fundamental upheavals in the coexistence of nature and mankind, TERRA DIASPORA stands for a world on the move; for a terrain that is becoming increasingly alien to its inhabitants, and for an earth on which people are becoming foreign bodies. It is an earth in a foreign land, a terra diaspora.
After the first part of the TERRA DIASPORA – WELTEN WANDELN program series in 2024 explored contemporary forms of fantastic, figurative art, TERRA DIASPORA – ACTIVE TERRAINS is the Kunstverein’s current motto for 2025. As the second part of the comprehensive TERRA DIASPORA exhibition series, the fundamental distortions in the relationship between nature and man in our present day are shown and discussed here using real geographical case studies and the creative reaction of artists to precisely these conditions in Göttingen. This annual program is also developed and supervised by curator Stephan Klee together with the participating artists and related curators.

Kirstin Burckhardt (*Durban, South Africa), is a professional artist and therapist, who uses visual and performative techniques to explore the interactions and emotional bonds between people. Aspects of the body, gesture, touch, communication, and friendship are at the centre of her exploration. Mario Asef (Córdoba, Argentina), an educated artist and architect, focuses his attention and his distinctive expertise in visual and acoustic recording techniques on the complex interactions in the ecological networks of diverse species in wild and urban nature. Together as the Asef-Burkhardt duo, they not only unfold the Sea Ranch on the American West Coast as a multifaceted place of longing for a common artistic quest, but also elevate this specific terrain to their guiding coordinates of a new form of dual action between affection and real urgency. With this lively fusion between artistic field research and a productive network of relationships, the Kunstverein Göttingen is taking the first step into the new exhibition year.

We thank our sponsors: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Stadt Göttingen, Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V. and Sparkasse Göttingen

Finissage: Geng Xue und Runa Ikeda

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FINISSAGE
Sunday 15 Dec 2024, 3 pm – 5 pm

WELTEN WANDLERINNEN N°4 & N°5
(WORLD CHANGERS N°4 & N°5)
Geng Xue & Runa Ikeda: Oneiroi

event image: Geng Xue 海公⼦ – Mr. Sea, 2014 – 2023 (still), Stop – Motion – Animation, Single-Channel video, 13’15” min, courtesy the artist and gallery Migrant Bird Space, Berlin

 

The year is coming to an end and with it the exhibition cycle TERRA DIASPORA – WELTEN WANDELN of the Kunstverein Göttingen. It was also an exciting year artistically with four solo exhibitions and a central group exhibition, all of which explored the phenomenon of contemporary surrealism and magical realism from many parts of the world.
The Finissage of “Oneiroi” is definitely the last opportunity to visit the Old Town Hall once again, to review the editions and exhibitions of the year and to take in the extraordinary works of this Asian double constellation of Geng Xue from China and Runa Ikeda from Japan. We are looking forward to having a well-deserved winter break with you. Cordially, your team from the Kunstverein Göttingen.

Sun 12.12.24, 3:00 – 5:00 pm
Finissage Oneiroi

– 3:00 pm Guided tour through the exhibition with Runa Ikeda and Stephan Klee
– 4:00 pm: final conclusion
From 3:00 to 5:00 pm the Kunstverein team will be on site with the artists. There will be drinks, snacks, and all editions of the year.

 

 

 

The 2024/2025 TERRA DIASPORA programme at the Kunstverein Göttingen is being developed by curator Stephan Klee together with the participating artists. The final presentation of the TERRA DIASPORA – WELTEN WANDELN exhibition series in 2024 is dedicated entirely to the multimedia installations by the two artists Geng Xue and Runa Ikeda. In their individual groups of works, the artists from China and Japan both combine the aesthetics and narratives of their diverse home cultures with personal content in a unique dreamlike expressiveness. In Greco-Roman mythology, the Oneiroi (dreams) are the many children of Nyx (night) and Hypnos (sleep). This many-headed family of subconscious phantasms will accompany and permeate the 2024 finale.

 

DIE EDITION ZUR AUSSTELLUNG

 

Geng Xue
看不见的冰湖
Invisible Ice Lake, 2024

Edition 15 + 3 AP
H 27 cm x W 40 cm
Archival inkjet pigment print
(Fine Art Long Duration Inkjet Print) on
HAHNEMÜHLE Museum Etching, rough matt
natural white, acid-free, 100% cotton, 350 gsm

courtesy the artist and gallery Migrant Bird Space, Berlin
Price: 400 € / 300 € for members of KV Göttingen

> If you are interested, please contact us here: info@kunstvereingoettingen.de

 

We would like to thank the Department of Culture of the City of Göttingen for the close and trusting cooperation at the Altes Rathaus Göttingen.

We also would like to express our deep gratefulness towards our generous sponsors: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Niedersächsische Sparkassen Stiftung, Stadt Göttingen, Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V. and Sparkasse Göttingen

 

The Long Afternoon of Art: Geng Xue and Runa Ikeda

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The Long Afternoon of Art
Saturday 14 Dec 2024 at 3 pm

WELTEN WANDLERINNEN N°4 & N°5
Geng Xue and Runa Ikeda: Oneiroi

event image: Geng Xue 海公⼦ – Mr. Sea, 2014 – 2023 (still), Stop – Motion – Animation, Single-Channel video, 13’15” min, courtesy the artist and gallery Migrant Bird Space, Berlin

The year is drawing to a close and with it the exhibition cycle TERRA DIASPORA – WELTEN WANDELN of the Kunstverein Göttingen. It was an exciting year, also artistically with four solo exhibitions and a central group exhibition, all of which explored the phenomenon of contemporary surrealism and magical realism from many parts of the world.
It is therefore our special pleasure to be able to invite everyone to the long afternoon of art on Saturday 14 December to round off the year. We want to review the exhibition year together and delve deeper into the current exhibition with the artist Runa Ikeda and the curator Stephan Klee. The brand new performance by the iYi collective will be premiered and in the evening we will listen to contemporary Japanese sound art. You can also actively support the KVG by purchasing an edition for the festival. In between, there will be plenty of time for viewing, strolling, and personal dialogue. Coming and going is also entirely up to you.

Sat 14.12.24, 3 – 7 pm
The Long Afternoon of Art: Oneiroi

– 11 am: The exhibition opens due to regular opening times
–  3 pm: Guided Tour through the exhibition with Runa Ikeda and Stephan Klee
–  4 pm: World premiere of the performance by the Art Trio iYi: Ancestral Eavesdropping
–  6 pm: Sound Art by Shinichiro Ikeda


The Kunstverein team will be on site with the artists from 3 pm to 7 pm. There will be drinks, snacks, and all the editions of the year 2024.

 

The performance trio iYi consists of the visual artist Runa Ikeda with the composer Shinichiro Ikeda from Japan, and the contemporary dancer Frida Yngvesson, born in South Korea with an Icelandic passport. Together they will premiere the performance piece ‘Ancestral Eavesdropping’, their latest production on the Long Afternoon of Art in Göttingen’s Old Town Hall, which will also be premiered as part of the exhibition Oneiroi in the Old Town Hall on 14 December.

Ancestral eavesdropping is the new work by the interdisciplinary performance collective. It is a performance and installation that aims to reconnect the audience with the lost sounds and practices of their pasts. The three artists of iYi – all originally from Japan and South Korea – left their home countries at different points in their lives. With this performance, they reflect on their shared experiences of migration and cultural memory. The piece poses the hypothetical question: ‘What could we hear if we could listen to our ancestors?’
The performance takes place within the installation created by Runa Ikeda and changes its appearance. After the performance, the installation will have evolved into a significantly different form – a visual expression of the passage of time. The performance refers to old rituals and practices. The work cleanses the space, honours the past and at the same time creates space for transformation. Sounds and field recordings were collected from places of personal significance such as Tokyo, Okinawa, and Ishikawa, and form the basis of the soundscape throughout the performance.

Statement
“We are interested in how sound, movement, and different forms of the visual can merge and form holistic experiences in physical installations or live performances. Our practice is based on direct composition, improvisation, and embodiment.
As a collective, we explore themes such as dreams, rituals, fantasy, uncanniness, and juxtapositions. Our work is often shown in unconventional locations such as outdoor spaces, libraries, and bars. This is and has always been one of the main inspirations for us, on how to bring the performance to a different audience in unexpected places and circumstances.”

 

 

The 2024/2025 TERRA DIASPORA programme at the Kunstverein Göttingen is being developed by curator Stephan Klee together with the participating artists. The final presentation of the TERRA DIASPORA – WELTEN WANDELN exhibition series in 2024 is dedicated entirely to the multimedia installations by the two artists Geng Xue and Runa Ikeda. In their individual groups of works, the artists from China and Japan both combine the aesthetics and narratives of their diverse home cultures with personal content in a unique dreamlike expressiveness. In Greco-Roman mythology, the Oneiroi (dreams) are the many children of Nyx (night) and Hypnos (sleep). This many-headed family of subconscious phantasms will accompany and permeate the 2024 finale.

 

THE EDITION OF THE EXHIBITION


Geng Xue
看不见的冰湖
Invisible Ice Lake, 2024

Edition 15 + 3 AP
H 27 cm x W 40 cm
Archival inkjet pigment print
(Fine Art Long Duration Inkjet Print) on
HAHNEMÜHLE Museum Etching, rough matt
natural white, acid-free, 100% cotton, 350 gsm

courtesy the artist and gallery Migrant Bird Space, Berlin
Price: 400 € / 300 € for members of KV Göttingen

> If you are interested, please contact us here: info@kunstvereingoettingen.de

 

We would like to thank the Department of Culture of the City of Göttingen for the close and trusting cooperation at the Altes Rathaus Göttingen.

We also would like to express our deep gratefulness towards our generous sponsors: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Niedersächsische Sparkassen Stiftung, Stadt Göttingen, Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V. and Sparkasse Göttingen

 

Vernissage Geng Xue and Runa Ikeda

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VERNISSAGE
Sunday, 20 October 2024 at 11:30 am

WELTEN WANDLERINNEN N°4 & N°5
Geng Xue & Runa Ikeda: Oneiroi

event image: Geng Xue 海公⼦ – Mr. Sea, 2014 – 2023 (still), stop–motion video, Single-Kanal video, 13’15” min, courtesy the artist and gallery Migrant Bird Space, Berlin

You are cordially invited to the Vernissage on Sunday, 20 October 11:30 am – 2:00 pm in the Old Town Hall Göttingen, 2nd floor. After a tonal introduction with the sound art of Shinichiro Ikeda, Helmut Wenzel, and Stephan Klee will briefly welcome the guests and introduce the exhibition. At 13:00 there will then be the Göttingen film premiere of Geng Xue’s 海公⼦  – Mr. Sea, 2014 – 2023. We are also presenting the new edition of the exhibition. The artist couple Ikeda and the curator Stephan Klee will be present. The exhibition rooms will remain open until 17:00, so there will be enough time to view the works at your leisure.

Sun 20.10.24, 11:30 am – 2:00 pm
Vernissage – Reception
– 11:45 am: Sound Art Pieces by Shinichiro Ikeda
– 12:00 pm: Welcome speeches by Helmut Wenzel and Stephan Klee
– 01:00 pm: Göttingen film premiere of Geng Xue Mr Sea – 海公⼦
Presentation of the new edition of Geng Xue. The artist Runa Ikeda, the sound artist Shinichiro Ikeda, and the curator Stephan Klee will be present.
– 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm: The exhibition is regularly open.

 

 

 

…

Beginning with narratives from the past – such as classics from the Qing dynasty, Buddhist cosmology or Taoist teachings – and arriving at severed body parts and porcelain dolls, the creations of multimedia artist Geng Xue offer uncanny and interwoven retellings of various traditional strands of Chinese cultural history. Working primarily with porcelain, Geng Xue explores the fragile yet enduring nature of the ceramic medium, which metaphorically represents the duality of man and the physical world.

Runa Ikeda specializes in painting and drawing, but also creates sculptures from clay and performs with musicians and contemporary dancers. For her, art is the best self-expression and the valid truth in her life. She studied illustration at the Tokyo Design Academy, where she graduated in 2010. During her studies, she also began to express herself through painting.

…

The 2024/2025 TERRA DIASPORA programme is being developed by curator Stephan Klee together with the participating artists. The final presentation of the TERRA DIASPORA – WELTEN WANDELN exhibition series in 2024 is dedicated entirely to the multimedia installations by the two artists Geng Xue and Runa Ikeda. In their individual groups of works, the artists from China and Japan both combine the aesthetics and narratives of their diverse home cultures with personal content in a unique dreamlike expressiveness. In Greco-Roman mythology, the Oneiroi (dreams) are the many children of Nyx (night) and Hypnos (sleep). This many-headed family of subconscious phantasms will accompany and permeate the 2024 finale.

 

THE EDITION OF THE SHOW

 

Geng Xue
看不见的冰湖
Invisible Ice Lake, 2024
Edition 15 + 3 AP
H 27 cm x W 40 cm
Archival inkjet pigment print
(Fine Art Long Duration Inkjet Print) on
HAHNEMÜHLE Museum Etching, rough matt
natural white, acid-free, 100% cotton, 350 gsm

courtesy the artist and gallery Migrant Bird Space, Berlin
Preis: 400 € / 300 € for Members of KV Göttingen

> If you are interested please contact us here: info@kunstvereingoettingen.de

 

We would like to thank the Department of Culture of the City of Göttingen for the close and trusting cooperation at Altes Rathaus.

We thank our sponsors: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Niedersächsische Sparkassen Stiftung, Stadt Göttingen, Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V. und Sparkasse Göttingen

 

Exhibition Geng Xue and Runa Ikeda

/in , , /by

WELTEN WANDLERINNEN N°4 & N°5
Geng Xue and Runa Ikeda: Oneiroi

event images: Geng Xue 海公⼦ – Mr. Sea, 2014 – 2023 (still), stop–motion video, Single-Kanal video, 13’15” min, courtesy the artist and gallery Migrant Bird Space, Berlin

In Greco-Roman mythology, the Oneiroi (dreams) are the many children of Nyx (night) and Hypnos (sleep). Led by the brothers Morpheus, Phobetor, and Phantasos, they are the mutable and many-headed family of dreams who create and direct the images of our sleep and imagination. In this role, they provide the appropriate title and theme for the final edition of our exhibition series WELTEN WANDELN on contemporary forms of magical realism and surrealism at the Kunstverein Göttingen.

This final presentation of the exhibition series in 2024 is dedicated entirely to the multimedia installations of the two artists Geng Xue and Runa Ikeda. In their individual groups of works, the artists from China and Japan both combine the aesthetics and narratives of their diverse home cultures with personal content in a unique, somnambulistic expressiveness. Geng Xue’s works are dominated by the finest porcelain sculptures, while Runa Ikeda’s are colourful paintings on large fabric banners. In this way, both artists create an inspiring, artistic world between reality, dream and narrative. The finale in the exhibition rooms of the Altes Rathaus Göttingen brings the two artists’ world drafts together in the rooms for the first time worldwide, reveals new references and expands the fantastic potential of their works.

Runa Ikeda was born in Japan in 1988 and graduated from the Tokyo Academy of Design’s Illustration masterclass in 2010. The unique world of her paintings, sculptures and performances quickly attracted attention in the art world in Japan and Germany, and she has participated in numerous group exhibitions and organised 5 solo exhibitions in galleries in Tokyo and Berlin. She is the winner of the Scott Hall Gallery Award and the Creative Award in Tokyo, Japan. In 2012, she also received the Special Award at the Germany Art Festival in Berlin. Runa Ikeda lives with her husband Shinichiro Ikeda in Berlin. Together they also run their studio there, where sound art, visual art, and performance are created in mutual enrichment.

Geng Xue graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing (2007) and the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe (2013) before receiving her MFA from CAFA (2014). Her work has been shown in numerous international exhibitions, including the Sydney Biennale (2018), the Venice Biennale (2017) and the Busan Biennale (2014). In 2017, Geng Xue was shortlisted for Young Artist of the Year at the Award of Art China (AAC). The artist currently lives and works in Beijing and teaches sculpture at CAFA.

 

Programme

Sun 20.10.24, 11:30 am  – 2:00 pm
Vernissage – Reception with
– 11:45 am: Sound art pieces by Shinichiro Ikeda
– 12:00 pm: Welcome speeches by Helmut Wenzel and Stephan Klee
–    1:00 pm: Göttingen film premiere of Geng Xue Mr Sea
Presentation of the new edition of Geng Xue . The artist Runa Ikeda will be present.

Sun 03.11.24, 3:00 – 4:00 pm
Sun 10.11.24, 3:00 – 4:00 pm
Sunday guided tour with Justus M. Müller

at 14.12.24, 3:00 – 7:00
The Long Afternoon of Art with
– 3:00 pm: Curator’s tour of the exhibition with Stephan Klee
– 4:00 pm: Performance by the art trio IYI
– 6:00 pm: Sound art by Shinichiro Ikeda
The artist couple Ikeda and the curator Stephan Klee will be on site

 

Sun 15.12.24, 15:00 – 19:00
Finissage
– 3:00 pm: Guided tour through the exhibition with Runa Ikeda and Stephan Klee
– 4:00 pm: Conclusion

Please book your participation in the Sunday tours at info@kunstvereingoettingen.de or klee@kunstvereingoettingen.de or by telephone at 0551-44899

 

 

 

THE EDITION OF THE SHOW

 

 

Geng Xue
看不见的冰湖
Invisible Ice Lake, 2024
Edition 15 + 3 AP
H 27 cm x W 40 cm
Archival inkjet pigment print
(Fine Art Long Duration Inkjet Print) on
HAHNEMÜHLE Museum Etching, rough matt
natural white, acid-free, 100% cotton, 350 gsm

courtesy the artist and gallery Migrant Bird Space, Berlin
Price: 400 € / 300 € for members of KV Göttingen

> If you are interested, please contact us here: info@kunstvereingoettingen.de

 

The Annual Programme 2024
TERRA DIASPORA – CHANGING WORLDS

TERRA DIASPORA is the leitmotif of the Kunstverein Göttingen 2024–2025. In the face of fundamental upheavals in the coexistence of nature and mankind, TERRA DIASPORA stands for a world on the move; for a terrain that is becoming increasingly alien to its inhabitants, and for an earth on which people are becoming foreign bodies. It is an earth in a foreign territory, a terra diaspora.
The first part of the 2024 programme series is called TERRA DIASPORA – WELTEN WANDELN and shows artists, who create new worlds between rational reality, dream, and fantasy. Dubious of a purely functional picture of reality and often affected by family experiences of migration, the exhibited artists connect the accustomed with the new, combine facts with the fantastic and create their own identities out of old stories and new experiences. Worlds are made visible which stem from our roots and emerge when we wander the earth. The 2024-2025 annual programme, developed by curator Stephan Klee and the participating artists, will be overseen by him over the next two years.

The finale of our fantastic series features two Asian artists: Runa Ikeda from Japan and Geng Xue from China. With literally overflowing creative energy, they realise their equally precious and finely branched world drafts from the rich pool of their respective home cultures, the traces of their dreams and free fantasies. Now, for the first time, these two artistic realms grow together, an expansive realm of pictorial dreams emerges from both the edifying and the enchanted.

We would like to thank our sponsors: Niedersächsisches Ministerium für Wissenschaft und Kultur, Niedersächsische Sparkassen Stiftung, Stadt Göttingen, Landschaftsverband Südniedersachsen e.V. and Sparkasse Göttingen