Common Grounds
12 February–17 May 2015
Museum Villa Stuck
Prinzregentenstr. 60
81675 Munich
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 11am–6pm,
first Friday of the month 11am–10pm
Opening: Wednesday, 11 February, 7pm
Followed by a panel at 9pm
with Abbas Akhavan, Parastou Forouhar, Babak Golkar, Susan Hefuna, Ahmed Mater, hosted by Chris Dercon, Director, Tate Modern, London, and an introduction by Maya El Khalil, director of Athr Gallery, Jeddah
Artists: Abbas Akhavan, DAAR, Parastou Forouhar, Babak Golkar, Dor Guez, Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Hazem Harb, Susan Hefuna, Bouchra Khalili, Sophia Al Maria, Ahmed Mater, Nasser Al Salem
From 12 February until 17 May 2015 the Museum Villa Stuck presents the group show Common Grounds. The rising cities of the Gulf region and arenas of conflict in the Middle East are captivating subjects of media coverage. Both in terms of their content and through their manipulative aesthetic, the often extreme images from these areas shape our western view of the region. Twelve artists counter this flood of images with more diverse artistic practices that reflect on social conditions.
The exhibition title refers to the concept of “grounding” in communication theory, which posits that communication partners share common knowledge, which allows for dialog to be successful. The artists’ cross-media works put this knowledge to the test. Ultra-modern urban construction and mass demonstrations are subjects that point to global aspiration and tradition. There is a notable broadening of artistic image-making to reflect on overriding themes such as space itself and the characteristics and possibilities of public space. Conceptual works go beyond a documentary approach and reveal social structures oscillating between West and East, sensing a cultural continuity under the surface of new urban phenomena.
The artists included in the exhibition conceive of themselves as scholarly and searching; in their works they collect, archive and research imagery that, as material appropriated from others, reveals stories which lie underneath the surface of known historiography. They have adopted a view from the outside, which allows them to subject their own experiences to scrutiny and to process such analytical reflections in artistic terms.
An exhibition organized by Museum Villa Stuck, Munich.
Curator: Verena Hein
The exhibition is accompanied by a bilingual (German/English) catalogue that introduces the artists based on individual entries. Among the contributores are Chris Dercon, Verena Hein, Omar Kholeif, Markus Miessen, Nat Muller, and Venetia Porter. The catalogue will be publishd by Hatje Cantz in March 2015.
A interdisciplinary programme will accompany the exhibition. For further information, see: www.villastuck.de.
Funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation.
