SUBVERSIVE EXCERPTS

 

The exhibition is a selection of works and events dating from the time of the Eastern-European and South American totalitarian regimes, dealing with the criticism of the regimes and societies from the 1960s onward. The exhibition presented as a part of last year’s “Subversive Practices” project in Stuttgart presented a number of regionally grouped works collected by local curators, which provided a more comprehensive view of the subversive artworks of the given countries than could be attempted by the Trafó Gallery. Thus, instead of using the national grouping as a way of orientation, we chose the various sites where theses manifestations of resistance could appear as the guiding principle behind the exhibition. Although the totalitarian regimes lurking behind these works of art display a number of similarities, their differences prevent us from interpreting the presented artworks according to a single set of guidelines. However, instead of converging in infinity, the parallels between radical public presence and artistic actions concerned with the politics of the body – which were constrained, due to the efforts to suppress them, to the intimacy of private spaces – meet in the exhibition.

Subversive Excerpts is based on the project Subversive Practices initiated by Iris Dressler, Hans D. Christ first presented in Stuttgart 2009. The current selection is made by Nikolett Erőss.

 

Idea and Concept: Iris Dressler, Hans D. Christ

Curators:
Ramón Castillo / Paulina Varas
Fernando Davis
Cristina Freire
Sabine Hänsgen
Miguel Lopez / Emilio Tarazona
Ileana Pintilie Teleaga
Valentín Roma / Daniel García Andújar
Szőke Annamária / Peternák Miklós (HU)
Anne Thurmann-Jajes

Partners:
Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart
Arteleku, San Sebastian
C3 Center for Culture & Communication Foundation, Budapest

 

With the support of the Culture Programme of the European Union and the National Cultural Fund of Hungary.