An exhibition Art as a civic action is a result of a a training course that took place in Berlin between the 6th and 13th October. The training sessions united 27 artists from Germany, Serbia, Moldova, Greece, and Ukraine. The main aim of the event was to bring together people around social and political issues on different levels.
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The European political process is complex, and often perceived as far away from the citizens. Citizens of Europe e.V. see civil dialogue and engagement as a means to bring the individual and community closer to the decision making process. By doing so, the citizen can bring about the change needed to have a real influence on the issues that matter in our expanding European society. – project’s website
The exhibition itself took place at Agora Gallery on October 11, bringing together people around the installations of participants which were done during this one-week session. I shall try to cover these installations and disclose their meaning.
The artist is a migrant
The artists’ idea was to show how immigration influences art and the way multiculturalism enriches the art landscape and forms Berlins uniqueness. The authors of the project strike out that in the last decade, Berlin has become a hotbed for international artists and a big contemporary art scene. Berlin political image has inpired artists to leave their comments through graffiti art. Most of the topics highlight gentrification, sexism, German immigration policies and Palestine. The group of artists propose a stencil aiming to show how it is to be left out of the picture as a non-EU immigrant in EU society.
The installation tries to show the issues of different kinds of discriminations at the job market. Artists chose four cases of people that have been discriminated for various reasons and depicted this dimension by setting each case a different starting point to discover if there is a Match point in the end.
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| In the end you can hear the reason of refusal to this story. Artists were interactive and involved visitor in the process |
Don’t pee in Berlin
The installation attracts visitors attention to the problem of urinating in public. In big cities the problem of such type exists, artists say. During one day the installation was demonstrated near Brandenburger Gate to attract more attention to the problem.
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| Facebook page of the event |
The problem of media coverage
Nowadays current media are showing the type of news the average consumer wants to get, leaving behind crucial topics. EU with “rope” forms EUROPE, mass media of which are tending to ommit important stories. By taking on this rubber yolk, the visitor can come forward and observe the first pages of the famous newspapers and magazines. Most of them are depicting secular life, while titles about Ebola, war in Syria and Ukraine are smaller and in the background.
There was another installation within the presentation which featured a video aimed to illustrate a personal view of artists of identity constructions in our environment. The group of artists explored Berlin for one week and had a chance to create a piece that helped them to self-reflect their sentiments towards the subject of personal self-search.
Thus, the art atmosphere of Berlin can offer a generation of young and talented artists who are able to express issues and tackle their solution through art. I hope to attend new and innovative art events in the nearest future.