Revolution is not a garden party
The international exhibition ‘Revolution is not a Garden Party’ is envisaged as a tribute to the revolutionary spirit of the Hungarian Uprising and considers the resonances of social and political revolution in contemporary art.
As the first major popular rebellion against Soviet domination and the communist system in Eastern Europe, 1956 was a vital precursor of later revolutionary struggles. At the same time, it was part of wider geo-political shifts, such as the movement for decolonisation, and had cultural as well as political ramifications across Europe. In the history of art, the demolition of the Budapest Stalin Statue was the ultimate symbol of the decline of Socialist Realism. The truth about revolution is part of a contested history, a living process of rewriting and interpretation in which art takes a decisive part.
The exhibition consists of new and recent works that examine the global economic and political context against which revolutions take place, as well as the intersection between personal and artistic heritages of revolution. It expresses the sorrow of failed political struggles in the past and the future, and considers the shared experience of a communist past and the post-communist reality. Other concerns include the experience of revolutionary literature, the gendered images of resistance fighters in contemporary media, and the legacy of 1956 for the relationship of art and revolution.
The participating artists are Michael Blum (Austria), Nick Crowe (UK), Igor Grubić (Croatia), Sanja Iveković (Croatia), Little Warsaw (Hungary), Nils Norman (UK) and Adrian Paci (Albania / Italy) Curated by Maja and Reuben Fowkes
For more details please see www.translocal.org/revolution The exhibition will travel to the Holden Gallery Manchester in February 2007, and is generously supported by the European Cultural Foundation, the Hungarian Ministry of Culture, and the Croatian Ministry of Culture.
Talks and Events
SocialEast Seminar on Art and Documentary and Socialist Memory Film Screening
Ludwig Museum Budapest 10 November 2006, 12-6pm
Speakers Bojana Pejić (Curator Berlin/Belgrade) ‘The Production of the Unknown Heroine’ Miško Suvaković (Professor of Aesthetics and Theory of Arts at Belgrade University) 'Analysis of Ideology: Approaches and Transgressions' Lynda Morris (Norwich School of Art) ‘Picasso: Peace or Freedom’ Eva Forgacs (Pasadena Art Centre for Design) ‘Ilya Kabakov, Archives of Garbage’ Angela Harutyunyan (University of Bremen) ‘Collective Memory Fragmented: Public Symbols and Political Power in Minsk’
www.socialeast.org
Socialist Memory: Documentary Approaches in Contemporary Art
The Socialist Memory film screening features film and video works by contemporary artists that deal with the memory of the communist past in Eastern Europe. The selected films also demonstrate the variety of approaches within contemporary art to the use of documentary material and techniques. Devised by Maja and Reuben Fowkes
www.translocal.org
Anri Sala (Albania/France) Intervista, 1998 (25 min) Zbynek Baladran (Czech Republic), Working Process, 2004 (9 min) Arturas Raila (Lithuania), The Girl is Innocent, 1999 (17 min) Goran Dević (Croatia), Imported Crows, 2005 (22 min) Johanna Billing (Sweden) Magical World, 2005 (6.12 min)
Revolt at the Academy of Fine Arts Budapest ‘89 Talk Show Devised by Little Warsaw
Details to be confirmed.
Talks and Events
SocialEast Seminar on Art and Documentary and Socialist Memory Film Screening
Ludwig Museum Budapest 10 November 2006, 12-6pm
Speakers Bojana Pejić (Curator Berlin/Belgrade) ‘The Production of the Unknown Heroine’ Miško Suvaković (Professor of Aesthetics and Theory of Arts at Belgrade University) 'Analysis of Ideology: Approaches and Transgressions' Lynda Morris (Norwich School of Art) ‘Picasso: Peace or Freedom’ Eva Forgacs (Pasadena Art Centre for Design) ‘Ilya Kabakov, Archives of Garbage’ Angela Harutyunyan (University of Bremen) ‘Collective Memory Fragmented: Public Symbols and Political Power in Minsk’
www.socialeast.org
Socialist Memory: Documentary Approaches in Contemporary Art
The Socialist Memory film screening features film and video works by contemporary artists that deal with the memory of the communist past in Eastern Europe. The selected films also demonstrate the variety of approaches within contemporary art to the use of documentary material and techniques. Devised by Maja and Reuben Fowkes www.translocal.org
Anri Sala (Albania/France) Intervista, 1998 (25 min) Zbynek Baladran (Czech Republic), Working Process, 2004 (9 min) Arturas Raila (Lithuania), The Girl is Innocent, 1999 (17 min) Goran Dević (Croatia), Imported Crows, 2005 (22 min) Johanna Billing (Sweden) Magical World, 2005 (6.12 min)
