Fwd: info on the conference KLARTEXT! & exhibition DISOBEDIENCE in Berlin

Begin forwarded message:

> KLARTEXT!
> The Status of the Political in Contemporary Art and Culture
>
> Conference from January 14-16 2005
> Kunstlerhaus Bethanien and Volksbuhne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin
>
> With (selection): Inke Arns, Berlin/Dortmund; B+B, London; Marius
> Babias, Berlin; Jochen Becker, Berlin; Bernadette Corporation, New
> York/Paris; Anita Di Bianco, New York; Sezgin Boynik, Prizren; Gerd
> Brendel, Berlin; Boris Buden, London; Roger M. Buergel, Vienna/Kassel;
> Fulvia Carnevale, Paris; Chto delat?, St. Petersburg/Moscow; Catherine
> David, Paris/Rotterdam; Susanne von Falkenhausen, Berlin; Fiambrera
> Obrera/Yomango, Madrid; Alex Foti, Milano; Grupo de Arte Callejero,
> Buenos Aires; Hans Haacke, New York; Brian Holmes, Paris; Jakob
> Jakobsen, Copenhagen; Deborah Kelly, Sydney; KpD, Berlin; Holger Kube
> Ventura, Halle; Maria Lind, Stockholm; Shaheen Merali, Berlin; Nina
> Montmann, Hamburg/Helsinki; Chantal Mouffe, London; Francesco
> Jodice/Multiplicity, Milan; Marion von Osten, Zurich/Berlin; Jacques
> Ranciere, Paris; Oliver Ressler, Vienna; Irit Rogoff, London; Ilaria
> Vanni, Sydney; Claudia Wahjudi, Berlin; Paola Yacoub/Michel Lasserre,
> Berlin; Yes Men, New York.
>
> KLARTEXT! means "straight talk" in German. The aim of the project,
> initiated by Berlin-based independent curators Marina Sorbello and
> Antje
> Weitzel, is to explore the current use-and sometimes misuse-of the
> category "Political" as applied to contemporary art and culture.
> Especially since September 11 and Documenta 11 in Kassel, one
> encounters
> the claim that art is becoming increasingly politicised or
> re-politicised and that political questions have returned to the arena
> of culture and contemporary art. In a variety of ways-and with varying
> results-current exhibition projects and publications are taking this
> thesis into consideration. Is it just a new trend? Such approaches tend
> on the whole to neglect the inherent questions that necessarily attend
> such a proposal and take for granted an implicit understanding of the
> terms art and politics, of their social functions and effects.
>
> The conference brings together in Berlin international artists,
> activists, curators, workers in the cultural sector and theoreticians
> to
> discuss the relationship between art and politics, and provides a
> platform and context for the exchange of thoughts, strategies and
> approaches. KLARTEXT! is also an exhortation to the participants and
> the
> audience to engage in the analysis of the aforementioned themes and
> issues. Are we really dealing with the politicisation of art or is it
> more a matter of an aestheticisation of political themes and contents?
> How influential is art? What is activism today, and how does the
> interchange between art and activism function? Does it make any sense
> to
> use art as a means to articulate social and political concerns? What
> manifestations should this kind of art assume? And in what context can
> it be effective?
>
> For further information, please visit www.klartext-konferenz.net
>
>
>
>
> DISOBEDIENCE
> An ongoing video library
> A project by Marco Scotini
>
> play\_gallery for still and motion pictures
> hannoversche strasse 1, d-10115 berlin
> www.pushthebuttonplay.com
> Private viewing: Thursday, 13th January 2005, 7 pm
> 14th January