To The Square 2
22–31 August 2014
Lasipalatsi Square
Public space
Helsinki
Finland
www.checkpointhelsinki.org
www.perpetualmobile.org
#TSQ2
To The Square 2 (#TSQ2) re-invigorates the question of public space as a crucial locus for the articulation of the political and the art of protest.
Curated by Ivor Stodolsky and Marita Muukkonen
Commissioned by Checkpoint Helsinki as part of Helsinki Festival
The 7th iteration of the Re-Aligned Project by Perpetuum Mobilε
From Tunis to Tahrir Square
From Occupy to Wikileaks and Blockupy ECB
From Gezi Park to Bolotnaya Square Moscow …
After the protest movements which broke out in capitals across the world from 2011 onward, we live in a period of reactionary politics and at times violent repression. The question today is, what would it take for people to go To The Square 2—that is, to take to the streets again? Do we need to see heightened extremes of economic inequality, ecological catastrophes, raw racism or an infinitely bigger “big brother”? Where are all those people who took to the square: pacified, in prison, in exile? For where did it all come from, and where does it go—that revolutionary energy?
TSQ2′s curators have commissioned new works by artists deeply involved in forms of resistance and movements “to the square” to grapple with these questions: Egypt’s famed and much-loved street artist Ammar Abo Bakr (Luxor/Cairo); Núria Güell (Barcelona), joining the project in absentia (as usual) from Cuba, with interventions in Europe’s economic dislogic; the renowned Palestinian artist Khaled Jarrar (Ramallah), who has defeated Israel’s travel ban to create a public performance seeking 50 volunteers to match his 50-army-uniform-strong installation; Vladan Jeremić & Rena Rädle (Belgrade), whose biting political satire, also seen in ArtLeaks (Jeremić is a co-founder), is uncomfortably reminiscent of 1914; Nikolay Oleynikov (Moscow), whose mobile “Radio Pravda” is an agitprop broadcast-collage in memory of the likes of Grosz and Benjamin; the urban transformers Raumlabor (Berlin) whose mobile cinema-theatre will stage interventions with Helsinki’s citizens; and the sincerely hilarious ZIP Group (Krasnodar) and its “wild constructivism” in the centre of Lasipalatsi Square.
The grand opening of all works will be on 29 August, followed by a concert by the prominent singer of the Egyptian Revolution, Ramy Essam.
The Square, a new newspaper accompanying the project, is designed by Tzortzis Rallis (Occupied Times) and includes art by Ganzeer, Federico Geller, Vladan Jeremić & Rena Rädle and articles by Michel Bauwens, Feminist Pencil, Grey Violet, Núria Güell, G.U.L.F., Occupy Museums, Teivo Teivainen, Telekommunisten and Nadya Tolokonnikova of Zona Prava/Pussy Riot.
Full programme here or here (with locations) / Facebook
Selections:
19–31 August
Radio Pravda
22 August
Debate: “The Future of the Square”
24–27 August
Raumlabor workshops to build a “mo-we-mobile” cinema.
25–31 August
ZIP Group “Constructivism”
25–31 August
TSQ2 artists talk to prominent Helsinkians
26 August
Khaled Jarrar’s performative action
27–31
August Ammar Abo Bakr paints a massive-scale canvas in the square
27 August
Vladan Jeremić & Rena Rädle start their Googleheim project
29 August
Grand opening and concert with Ramy Essam featuring Paleface
L Square Cinema:
27 August 10:30pm
World premiere of Pussy Vs. Putin II, directed by Tasya Krougovykh
30 August 10:30pm
Art War, directed by Marco Wilms
31 August 10:30 pm
Indignados, directed by Tony Gatlif
Following Back To (The) Square 1, To The Square 2 is Perpetuum Mobilε’s second commission by Checkpoint Helsinki.
Checkpoint Helsinki is a new art organization that commissions and produces artworks by emerging international artists. www.checkpointhelsinki.org
Perpetuum Mobilε is a curatorial collective which brings together art, practice and enquiry. www.perpetualmobile.org / Facebook / Twitter
Curators
Ivor Stodolsky and Marita Muukkonen, Perpetuum Mobilε
perpetualmobile [at] gmail.com / T +358 (0) 407254050 / T +358 (0) 440 965 103
Press
International: Kathrin Luz
kl [at] neumann-luz.de / T +49 (0) 171 3102 472
Finnish: Krista Kinnunen
krista.kinnunen [at] checkpointhelsinki.org / T +358 (0) 50 385 4555
