Petra Bauer
Anna Baumgart
Bodil Furu
Olga Chernysheva
Colonel und Khaled D. Ramadan
Kaspars Goba
Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen
Tellervo Kalleinen
Kristina Inciuraite
Sven Johne
Talleiv Taro
Manum
Tanja Nellemann Poulsen
Anu Pennanen
J&K
Katrin Tees
Alexander Vaindorf
Arturas Valiauga
Julita Wójcik
The 4th Ars Baltica Triennial of Photographic Art will present photographs, videos, and installations by 20 artists from the countries bordering the Baltic Sea, works that address the problems and fears resulting from upheavals in present-day society. Curated by Dorothee Bienert, Kati Kivinen and Enrico Lunghi.
4th Ars Baltica Triennial of Photographic Art
Artists: Petra Bauer (SE), Anna Baumgart (PL), Bodil Furu (NO), Olga Chernysheva
(RU), Colonel und Khaled D. Ramadan (DK), Kaspars Goba (LV), Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen
und Tellervo Kalleinen (FI), Kristina Inciuraite (LT), Sven Johne (DE), Talleiv Taro
Manum (NO), Tanja Nellemann Poulsen (DK), Anu Pennanen (FI), J&K (DE/DK), Katrin
Tees (EE), Alexander Vaindorf (SE), Arturas Valiauga (LT), Julita Wójcik (PL)
Curators: Dorothee Bienert (Berlin), Kati Kivinen (Helsinki), Enrico Lunghi
(Luxembourg)
The 4th Ars Baltica Triennial of Photographic Art Don't Worry - Be Curious! will
present photographs, videos, and installations by 20 artists from the countries
bordering the Baltic Sea, works that address the problems and fears resulting from
upheavals in present-day society.
Europe's social, political, and economic reality is currently marked by
restructuring processes that have led to a collapse in a continuity of location, a
volatility in stable social relationships, and increasing individualization, on the
one hand, and growing unemployment, passivity, and disenchantment with politics, on
the other. These upheavals are predominantly experienced by West European countries
as a crisis of the welfare state, while in East European countries they appear to be
the result of socialism's displacement by a capitalistic economic order. The sensed
threat provokes similar reactions here as well as there; fear of social
impoverishment, of a loss of identity, and of an uncertain future are the effects of
globalization. In addition to this is the growing fear of the "foreigner" and the
increasing desire to exclude the "other."
The exhibition assumes that art can offer impulses and inspire reflection on
participation and the power of agency. Invited are artists whose practice is based
on the exploration of their social environment. The artists deal with diverse
thematic fields such as migration politics, ideas of "normality" and
"differentness," the mechanisms of understanding and misunderstanding, social fears,
young people's various perspectives and concepts of life; the media's influence on
perception, thought, and knowledge; the relation between consumer culture and
nature; or the sentimental value of the commonplace. What unites the works is a
positive and often humorous prevailing mood that makes the observer want to engage
in something new and scrutinize his or her own patterns of perception and thought.
Don't Worry - Be Curious! will open in Stadtgalerie Kiel on March 30, 2007 at 7:00
pm. The press conference will take place on March 29, 2007 at 11:00 am. The
exhibition is under the auspices of the Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein and is
supported by the programme Culture 2000 of the European Union, the German Federal
Cultural Foundation, and institutions from the participating countries: the Danish
Arts Council, the Arts Council of Finland, the Center for Contemporary Art Norway,
IASPIS - International Artists' Studio Programme, Moderna Museet - International
Programme, Stockholm and the Ministries of Culture in Estonia, Latvia, and
Lithuania.
Further exhibition venues: KUMU - Art Museum of Estonia, Tallinn (EE); Pori Art
Museum, Pori (FI)
Publication: An exhibition catalogue will be published by Revolver Books with an
introduction by the curators, an interview with Zygmunt Bauman, and texts by Petra
Bauer and Annika Ruth Persson, Anders Eiebakke, Boris Kagarlitsky, Simon Sheikh,
Hito Steyerl, Audrone Zukauskaite, and others.
Internet: http://www.arsbalticatriennial.org
31st March 2007 to 28th May 2007 in Kiel, Germany
10th August 2007 to 30th September 2007 in Tallinn, Estonia
12th October 2007 to 20th January 2008 in Pori, Finland
Opening: Friday, March 30th, 7 p.m.
Artist talks: Saturday, March 31st, 2-6 p.m.
Stadtgalerie Kiel
Andreas-Gayk-Str. 31 - Kiel
Opening hours: Tue, Wed, Fr 10-17, Thu 10-19, Sat, Sun 11-17