[spectre] HMKV: "Agents & Provocateurs", Dortmund U, opens May 14, 2010

[Arns Inke]

Agents & Provocateurs
HMKV in the Dortmunder U - Center for  Art and Creativity
May 14 – July 18, 2010

Opening: Friday, May 14,  2010, 18:00, basement under the Dortmunder U

With works by more than 30 international artists, Agents & Provocateurs considers two distinct forms of confrontation –agency and provocation – in light of their use by artists as a means to express public criticism. Investigating the wide range of attitudes bridging the gap between the provocative stance of the enfant terrible and more problem-oriented approaches, the exhibition focuses on instances where artists have acknowledged and brought to bear their individual or collective agency.

In the counter-cultural scenes of former Socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe, provocation was a common artistic strategy of resistance. Agents & Provocateurs questions the actual critical potential of these oppositional artistic strategies while retracing their role in the ongoing transformation of post-totalitarian political culture. Is provocation still effective in a democratic society or does it merely reproduce patterns of thought and action that were developed in authoritarian political contexts?

Arguably, all political, economic, social or cultural systems are to some degree marred by oppression and unjust hierarchies. By confronting artistic interventions in former Socialist states with contemporaneous and current examples from more liberal democratic countries, Agents & Provocateurs aims to demonstrate that the truly critical attitude needs to be ceaselessly reconfigured if it hopes to register the shortcomings of any given system.

Agents & Provocateurs was initiated by Beata Hock and Franciska Zólyom and first shown in October 2009 at the Institute of Contemporary Art – Dunaújvaros, Hungary. It will be presented from May 2010 in the new venue of the HMKV at the Dortmunder U, in an extended version conceived and curated in cooperation with Inke Arns.


Artists:
Autoperforationsartisten (DE)
Tina Bara & Alba D’Urbano (DE)
Julius von Bismarck (DE)
Scott Blake (US)
Ondrej Brody (CZ)
Ján Budaj (SK)
VALIE EXPORT (AT)
Jill Godmilow (US)
Ion Grigorescu (RO)
Andris Grinbergs (LV)
Igor Grubic (HR)
Doma Harkai (HU)
IRWIN (SI)
Ivank Lazki (AR)
Istvan Kantor (CA)
Judit Kele (HU/FR)
Künstler informieren Politiker (DE)
Andreja Kuluncic (HR)
Zbigniew Libera (PL)
Novi kolektivizem (SI)
Tímea Oravecz (HU)
Anatolij Osmolovskij & Non-governmental control commission (RU)
Tanja Ostojic (RS/DE)
Ewa Partum (PL)
Pomaranczowa Alternatywa (PL)
Radek Community (RU)
Tamás St. Auby (HU)
Klaus Staeck (DE)
Sturtevant (US)
The Yes Men (US)
Milica Tomic (RS)
UBERMORGEN.COM (AT)
U.R.A. FILOART


For security reasons access to the third floor of the Dortmunder U on the evening of May 14, 2010, has been limited to 200 persons at a time. In case there should be a waiting line, please bear with us - and meanwhile join this event:

Audiodigitale presents: Budapest Nights 
Electronic music, VJing and club culture from Hungary
Friday, May 14 (starting at 20:00) and Saturday May 15 (starting at 21:00) in the basement of the Dortmunder U
Check www.audiodigitale.de for more information

Agents & Provocateurs
May 14 – July 18, 2010
HMKV at the Dortmunder U (3rd floor)
Center for  Art and Creativity
Leonie-Reygers-Terrasse
44137 Dortmund, Germany
www.hmkv.de

Opening hours: 
Tue — Sun, 10:00 — 20:00, closed on Mondays

Admission: 
5 € / 3 € (reduced)

In the framework of Scene Ungarn in NRW — 40. internationale Kulturtage der Stadt Dortmund 2010

Funded by:
Scene Ungarn in NRW, RUHR.2010, Der Ministerpräsident des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, NRW Kultursekretariat Wuppertal, Kulturbüro der Stadt Dortmund

Generously supported by:
Polnisches Institut Düsseldorf

Media partner:
coolibri, De:Bug, City Life

Sponsor:
Keba



------------------
Dr. Inke Arns
Kuenstlerische Leiterin / Artistic Director
Hartware MedienKunstVerein (HMKV)
Guentherstr. 65 (office)
44143 Dortmund, Germany
T + 49 - 231 - 823 106
M + 49 - 176 - 430 627 93
inke.arns at hmkv.de
www.hmkv.de
hmkv-dortmund.blogspot.com
www.inkearns.de

Agents & Provocateurs, HMKV im Dortmunder U (3. Etage)
15. Mai - 18. Juli 2010, Eröffnung: 14. Mai 2010, 18:00

Building Memory, HMKV im Dortmunder U (2. Etage)
29. Mai - 15. August 2010, Eröffnung: 28. Mai 2010, 22:00

Arctic Perspective, HMKV in der PHOENIX Halle Dortmund
19. Juni - 10. Oktober 2010, Eröffnung: 18. Juni 2010, 19:00