EXHIBITION

MODES OF DEMOCRACY

DOX, Hlavni mesto Praha, Prague, 11/14/2014 - 03/16/2015

Poupětova 1

ABOUT

Public surveillance on a massive scale, the invasion of individual privacy, the growing success of populist politicians and a return of authoritarian regimes in Europe and elsewhere … do such kinds of recent setbacks in the rights of the individual suggest that democracy is on the retreat? Following the progressive expansion of democracy over the past several decades, can it be said that a democratic reversal is in the offing?

 

The Modes of Democracy exhibition assumes that merely postulating this question is in itself the expression of a genuine concern, a sense of participation and vested interest in it - all part and parcel of a functioning democracy. The central precept underlying the exhibition is that the further development of democracy, its progress and indeed its very survival in a global world depend upon respect for shared values as well as different cultures across regions, nation-states and throughout the wider global community. The exhibition will present inspirational accounts of democracy in operation at various levels: a neighbourhood, a town, a metropolis, an autonomous region, as well as in large and small countries.

The exhibition will present real-life instances of democracy in action not only from Europe and North America, but also from other geographic and cultural areas (i.e. South America and Asia). It will thus seek to demonstrate how local democratic forms are being shaped by global trends and vice-versa, providing insights into an emerging idea of a trans-national democracy.The exhibition will showcase individual works of art as well as entire collections of works by various artists, including the documentation of short and long-term projects in which artists are already cooperating with local communities.

 

The exhibition will be divided into eight sections, grouped both thematically and geographically, with Europe being represented with experiences in three countries: civic activities as art projects in Ústí nad Labem, (Czech Republic), the coexistence of three ethnic groups in the autonomous province of South Tyrol (Italy) and crowd-sourcing a new constitution (Iceland).

 

Exhibition Artists: Adham Bakry (EGY), Štěpánka Bláhovcová (CZ), Libia Castro (ESP) & Ólafur Ólafsson (ISL), Paolo Cirio (ITA), Jiří Černický (CZ), Nicolò Degiorgis (ITA), Department for  Public Appearances (CZ), Hannes Egger (ITA), Ulrich Egger (ITA), Harun Farocki (DEU), Julia Frank (ITA), Thiago Gonçalves (BRA), Haukur Már Helgason (ISL), Siggi Hofer (ITA), Peter Holzknecht (ITA), Jakob De Chirico (ITA), Radek Jandera (CZ), Peter Kaser (ITA), Grzegorz Klaman (POL), Zdena Kolečková (CZ), Pavel Kopřiva and Atelier Interactive media FUD UJEP (CZ), Daniel Latorre (USA), Kristina Leko (HR), Todd Lester (USA), Mančaft (CZ), Paolo Mennea (ITA), Monsters (CZ), Gabriela Oberkofler (ITA), Trevor Paglen (USA), Franz Pichler (ITA), Laura Poitras (USA), Pro kompot (CZ), Ebadur Rahman (BGD), Jakub Szczesny (POL), Felipe Targa (COL), Michaela Thelenová (CZ), Sofie Thorsen (DNK), Peter Tribus (ITA), Leandro Viana (BRA).

 

Head curator: Jaroslav Anděl.

 

Curators for the Italian, Czech and South American sections are respectively: Haimo Perkmann, Michal and Zdena Koleček, Daniel Latorre and Todd Lester. 

 

This exhibition is organized within the framework of the 30th Council of Europe Art Exhibition: The Desire for Freedom. Art in Europe since 1945, which was initiated by The German Historical Museum, Berlin (Deutsches Historisches Museum) in collaboration with other European partners. The whole project is supported by the European Commission’s "Culture Programme" (2007 – 2013).

 

Partners of The Desire for Freedom project: Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin / Collegium Hungaricum Berlin / Muzeum Sztuki Wspólczesnej MOCAK, Krakow / Palazzo Reale, Milan / Eesti Kunstimuuseum - Kumu Kunstimuuseum, Tallinn / Umjetnicka galerija BiH, Sarajevo / DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague / Μακεδονικό Μουσείο Σύγχρονης Τέχνης  (Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art), Thessaloniki

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