… Was ist Kunst? … Resuming fragmented histories

20% performance 61% review 19% geopolitics

When Raša Todosijević repeatedly asked a silent woman the question “Was ist Kunst?” in a series of performances at the end of the seventies, this could not only be interpreted as a particularly forceful reprise of an eternal discourse, but also as criticism of conditions in communist Yugoslavia at that time. Künstlerhaus is now taking this question as the starting-point for a situation analysis, demonstrating exemplary positions in the partly historical Yugoslavian avant-garde, from OHO to IRWIN, and reviewing how the meanwhile radically changed territorial and cultural relations have impacted on the production of art, also in recent times. How do these changed geopolitical co-ordinates affect how gender and political difference is produced locally by art, activism and visual culture? What exactly is the social role of art? “… Was ist Kunst? …” with question marks, then as now.

Exhibition openings

Curatorial dialogues

Guided tours