The second chapter of the curatorial collaboration Karma Ltd Extended at Acud Galerie 16.03. – 15.04.2018
« We cannot act without supports, and yet we must struggle for the supports that allow us to act. (Judith Butler in: Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly)
Transcultural Transience, the second chapter of the curatorial collaboration Karma Ltd. Extended, is approaching political aspects of history, while investigating notions of ephemerality, knowledge-production, and transmission. During five weekends (16.03. – 15.04.2018), the gallery hosted a site-specific and process-oriented performance series, a lecture, and a screening program. The newly commissioned durational works by Isaac Chong Wai and Rachel Monosov question how embodied collective memory can be reconsidered and dealt with through performance. By looking at large-scale gatherings, such as demonstrations and the Olympic Games, the artists are investigating the role of the individual within those assemblages. What is the function of the bystander, who unexpectedly becomes part of a public demonstration? And what can we make of human bodies, marked by weakness and perfection, which become symbols for a national or political struggle? These are examples of questions that arise, more frequently so within our societies becoming rapidly digital— as human activity becomes increasingly virtual, and the line between physical and virtual spaces our bodies inhabit become blurred.
Slavs and Tatars are aiming for a visualization of transcultural transience in the history of the human being. They refer to themselves as archaeologists of the everyday as they draw upon deeper layers of meaning exemplified by tradition, custom, performance, language, anthropology and politics. By breathing life back into vast, misunderstood and often forgotten regions, the artist collective aims to resuscitate Eurasia.
Abrie Fourie, a Berlin-based photographer and artist from South-Africa, shares his knowledge and perspective on documented performance works by South African artists and the diaspora. His curated film series MINE - The Film Will Always Be You offers a rare and in depth look on performance ephemerality captured on film, which seeks to explore the myriad ways in which we identify and position ourselves.
Tracks:
RUI HO - Theia Impact
Bill Conti - Power
Trailer ‘Olympia’ by Leni Riefenstahl (1983)
INRA (Philipp Rhensius & Adam Ben Nun) - Olympia Performance sound:
Isaac Chong Wai - Protest Sound Berlin
Black Cracker - Satellite
Booba - DKR
RUI HO - Shrine of Lamali
Slavs and Tatars on the link between East and West, interview by Culture.pl
Mohau Modisakeng Final (Youtube interview)
Black Cracker ft Nu Zia - Chain Smoking On A Friday “