Group exhibition

11.9.2020 – 2.5.2021

Center for Contemporary Art, upper floor

The exhibition disturbance:witch approaches the theme of the witchcraft from the perspective of contemporary art. The focus is on “the disruptive factor” that shakes the deadlocked power structure and that is inherent in the figure of the witch. The witch-like, “abnormal”, “irrational”, “magical” and “wrong” opposes the traditional role patterns and structures and thus poses a threat to the status quo of contemporary societies that are still white and masculine dominated.

The exhibited works analyze aspects of the witchcraft as attributions and projections onto “witches” or women and queer people, which serve as instruments of exclusion, and examine strategies and goals that are still virulent as “witch hunts” today. The work examines not only the physical, but also the digital space in which the so-called “witch burnings” take place.

Works by: Jamika Ajalon, Tina Bara and Alba DʼUrbano, Emilio Bianchic, Anna and Bernhard Blume, Johanna Braun, Barbara Breitenfellner, Lysann Buschbeck, Sarah Decristoforo, Veronika Eberhart, Margret Eicher, Valerio Figuccio, Parastou Forouhar, Gluklya, Nilbar Güreş, Horst Haack, Orsi Horváth, Emily Hunt, Isabel Kerkermeier, Sharon Kivland, Miriam Lenk, Libera Mazzoleni, Franziska Meinert, Lambert Mousseka, Lisl Ponger, Protektorama (fed by JP Raether), Suzanne Treister, VIP and Carolin Weinert

Curated by Alba D’Urbano und Olga Vostretsova

Made possible by the Kunstfonds Bonn Foundation, with the kind support of the district promotion fund of the Senate Administration for Culture and Europe and the Austrian Cultural Forum

Ill.: Veronika Eberhart: 9 is 1 and 10 is none, film still, 2017 © Bildrecht GmbH, 2020

Patrizia Magdalena Bieri dances the exhibition “disturbance: witch” for the ZAK – Center for Contemporary Art and with her performance enlivens the museum rooms on the Spandau Citadel, which have remained in silence until then. The absence of museum visitors, which lasted for many weeks, became the predominant presence itself, which is disturbed by Bieri’s expressive style, which she describes as “fusion”. Step by step, the silence is banished and the exhibition is recaptured for the reopening through a quasi-magical act – a ritual dance indulging in femininity. The exhibition can be seen until April 25th, 21st.

Performance by Patrizia Magdalena Bieri
Patrizia Magdalena [she / her] (@magdalenefeels) • Instagram photos and videos
Curated by Maria Weber
Video by Jakob Mix
Filmmaker & Photographer – Jakob Mix
Mixed track: Jamika Ajalon, Veronika Eberhart and Sarah Decristoforo

Exhibition:
Conceived by the two curators Alba D’Urbano and Olga Vostretsova, based on the figure of the witch, the principles of structural violence and the suppression of “disturbing figures” in society will be traced. In the comparison of numerous artistic positions, the arc is drawn from historical references to depictions of witches to the demonization of the feminine to intersectional feminism.

Alba D’Urbano and Olga Vostretsova tell about the beginnings and the concept of the “disturbance” exhibition series and how the genius loci of the citadel inspired them to grapple with the witch. Accompanied by anecdotes, the two curators give insights into the complexity of the subject of the “disturbing”, as it has grown historically on the basis of the witch figure and has expanded to other areas of life and social groups in the form of structural violence under the guise of “witch hunts”. Furthermore, the artists Margret Eicher, Barbara Breitenfellner and Emily Hunt introduce themselves and talk about their work in the context of the exhibition.

Video by Jakob Mix Filmmaker & Photographer – Jakob Mix
Regie by Maria Weber
Mixed Track: Jamika Ajalon | Veronika Eberhart

Location

ZAK Center for Contemporary Art // Old Barracks

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