'Shifting Identities - [Swiss] Art Now' explores the state of contemporary Swiss. The exhibition is on show at the Kunsthaus Zürich until 31 August, with satellite venues such as Zürich Airport and downtown Zürich.
Nedko Solakov.
Contemporary Swiss art is flourishing on the international stage, and this highly active art scene is the focus of an exhibition that is less about 'nationality' than 'identity' and globalization as reflected in current art practices. As participating artists reflect on their own role, they also engage with notions of power, politics, art and the market place. The exhibition will be marked by a number of interventions in public spaces
With more than 60 examples, the Kunsthaus Zürich demonstrates the way a burgeoning generation of artists approaches such subjects as changing values and evolving identities: in videos critical of typecasting, in 'doppelganger' sculptures addressing the quest for an identity at the personal, psychological level, in installations dealing with political problems such as migration or religious conflict, as well as in drawings, paintings and performance art.
Adrian Paci.
As an interesting reflection on the exhibition's subject, many of the artists presented here as Swiss do not possess Swiss citizenship, while some of the artists shown who do enjoy Swiss nationality actually live and work outside the country.
A total of 29 of the works shown were created especially for the exhibition, including installations by Christian Vetter and the Frères Chapuisat, photography by Jules Spinatsch and a monumental painting on fabric by Shirana Shahbazi, to be mounted on the façade of the Kunsthaus.
'Shifting' implies change, displacement, motion, and the dissolution of established categories, all of which the exhibition takes into account by spreading beyond the boundaries of the museum to take over places of decisive significance for a globalized society. The exhibition's satellite events at Zurich Airport are a chance for issues of migration and identity to assume concentrated form, and beyond the museum and the public realm, the exhibition will also build bridges to the virtual world. At www.shifting-identities.ch, exhibition curator Mirjam Varadinis will host a discussion of identity, and visitors seeking information by way of the internet, the medium that connects everything with everything else at an ever greater pace, will be rewarded with background on the subject of the show and tips on upcoming events.
Participating artists include Pawel Althamer, Artur Zmijewski, Mircea Cantor, Annelise Coste, Keren Cytter, Vidya Gastaldon, Christoph Buchel, Gianni Moti, Nedko Solakov, Tino Sehgal, Mai-Thu Perret, David Renggli, Shirana Shahbazi, Slavs & Tatars, Andro Wekua and Erik Van Lieshout.
Events:
13 August: 24-hour performance of 'The Worker Split into Four Equal Parts' by Georg Keller, begin 7 p.m., Schauspielhaus Zürich, Stage 5
23 August: 'Artist and Policeman', a puppet show by San Keller, from 12 noon to 5 p.m. every hour on the full hour, Kunsthaus Zürich
30 August: 'F Permit', happening organized by Al Fahdil, Bahnhofstrasse/Paradeplatz
Further information at www.shifting-identities.ch
'SHIFTING IDENTITIES'
To 31 Aug 2008
Kunsthaus Zürich
Heimplatz 1
8001 Zurich
Switzerland
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