150310: Early Years

KW Institute for Contemporary Art Early Years 28.02.10 – 02.05.10 Convincing arguments The new Warsaw Museum of Modern Art, which is planned to open in Warsaw in 2014, is currently presenting an exhibition at the Berliner Kunstwerke. “Early Years” is also the first part of an initiative between the cities of Berlin and Warsaw- and in co-operation with Mumbai - in which artists and curators deal with the illusions and promises of happiness in a modern metropolis. The planned museum construction in Warsaw, designed by the Swiss architect Christian Kerez, is the largest among a series of new museums recently built in Warsaw. And exactly this project is one that points to the spirit, the anticipation, as well as the problems connected to redesigning Warsaw after the re-unification. The exhibition centres on the founding-phase and attempts to reflect on this phase. It deals with the first years of the initiative, which are not characterized by vitality and aspiration, but also by compromise and resistance – something that must be overcome by a project of this size. Jan Smaga’s work calls attention to the fact that the project is still faced with difficulties. His photo shows the area on which the building will be constructed; with the foreground hidden by a huge layer of ice. This “ice berg” not only symbolizes the impediments the construction is still faced with, but also the yet to be attained social acceptance and the hoped-for thawing of scepticism against the project. How difficult it is to be convincing, especially in this respect, is also shown by Artur Zmijewski’s video work in his series “Democracies”. The Polish artist centres on protests breaking out among shop owners in front of a huge market hall, which is doomed to make way for the museum. Their outrage clearly shows that those responsible still need to contribute convincing arguments for the museum-project to be successful. In its entirety, the project radiates so much vitality and energetic will and symbolizes a spirit of optimism, which can be sensed among the entire Polish art scene. Selecting Berlin as the exhibition-partner was not only driven by geographical motives. During the course of its history, the German capital was often confronted with having to restart, and even the Kunstwerke Berlin resulted after the German reunification. Both cities have much in common. The reanimated buildings of the former margarine factory in which the Kunstwerke are accommodated, marked the beginning of a new era in the 1990’s. The concept and construction of the new museum in Warsaw will definitely achieve the same. By Berenika Partum KW Institute for Contemporary Art 10117 Berlin, Auguststrasse 69 Tel: 0049 (0) 30 24 34 59 0 Fax: 0049 (0) 30 24 34 59 99 email: info@kw-berlin.de http://www.kw-berlin.de Opening hours: Tue – Sun: 12 noon – 7 p.m., Thu: 12 noon – 9 p.m.

Mehr Texte von translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville

150310

KW Institute for Contemporary Art
10117 Berlin, Auguststraße 69
Tel: 0049 (0) 30. 24 34 59 0, Fax: 0049 (0) 30. 24 34 59 99
Email: info@kw-berlin.de
http://www.kw-berlin.de
Öffnungszeiten: Mi-Mo 11-19, Do 11-21 h

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