Summer programme 2023

Kunsthalle Münster presents its 2023 summer programme with Pedro Barateiro: Crying in Public  (July 2–October 1, 2023) and the group exhibition Off the Pedestals: Iván Argote, Eduardo Chillida, Jenny Holzer, Zauri Matikashvili, Joiri Minaya, Leila Orth (July 5–August 27, 2023).

Pedro Barateiro: Crying in Public
July 2–October 1, 2023
Kunsthalle Münster

Location: Hafenweg 28, 5th floor, 48155 Münster

Opening: July 2, 12pm

Crying in Public is the first solo exhibition held in a German art institution by Pedro Barateiro. In his works, which include sculptures, drawings, films, texts and performances, the Portuguese artist questions the mechanisms and structures of post-capitalist societies. In a variety of ways, he addresses the inherent alienation of society under capitalism, as well as that of the individual from himself. At a time when the world seems to be increasingly out of joint, characterised by a lack of orientation and helplessness, whereby dissatisfaction and distancing are rampant, he focuses on the question of how we can change the way we relate to one another and to the world around us. In his works, including sculptures, drawings, films, texts and performances, he engages with the state of the world, saturated with information, and the sheer complexity of dealing with this wealth of data. His works question the mechanisms and structures of post-capitalist societies, with a central focus on the relationship between language, image and technology. Barateiro uses poetry as a tool to decolonise our bodies and minds. In a variety of ways, his works address a sense of estrangement in society, as well as that of the individual. His art is characterised by a wistful longing for a perfect place where community and affection innocently confront the wholesale commodification of life. A previously given, unquestioned relationship of humankind to themselves and to their environment seems to have been disrupted, turned upside down, destroyed. Against this very background, Barateiro plays with the essential means of orientation and disorientation. His works serve as instruments of self-reassurance, allowing one to question one's own position in the world. His art makes it possible to stay in touch with one's own humanity; it offers space for vulnerability, imagination and dreams.

Curator: Merle Radtke

Off the Pedestals: Iván Argote, Eduardo Chillida, Jenny Holzer, Zauri Matikashvili, Joiri Minaya, Leila Orth
July 4–August 28, 2023
Stadthausgalerie Münster

Location: Platz des Westfälischen Friedens, 48143 Münster

Opening: July 4, 6pm

The prelude to a programmatic examination of public space and questions of art and the public sphere by the Kunsthalle Münster in the Stadthausgalerie is the exhibition Off the Pedestals, featuring works by Iván Argote, Zauri Matikashvili, Joiri Minaya and Leila Orth. With Eduardo Chillida’s Tolerance Through Dialogue (1992) and Jenny Holzer’s Benches (1987) two works of art in public space will also be included in the exhibition and the discussions involved. Off the Pedestals engages in current political and social debates on war and colonial monuments by raising related issues of identity politics and commemoration practices in the public sphere and putting them up for discussion: To which extent have notions of colonial and imperial power supporting the vision of white male supremacy embodied by these monuments also moulded the memory landscape of our society? How can and should we deal with this kind of heroization of crimes from the imperial past today? Which of the embodied memories are entitled to a place in public space and which are not? And is it necessary to historicize all these surviving legacies? The (artistic) confrontation of such long-repressed questions breaks the silence about past misconduct and invites discussion. Resulting from this is a comprehensive discourse on society as a whole that at the same time brings the city’s specific history into focus.

Curator: Merle Radtke