Curator: Axel Lapp
Co-Curator: Marina Geitz
Artists: Gili Avissar, Marc Bauer, Daniel Gustav Cramer & Haris Epaminonda,
Nick Crowe & Ian Rawlinson, Markus Daum, Hannes Egger, Amit Goffer, Leah Gordon, Siggi Hofer, Azade Köker, Alexej Meschtschanow, Eriz Moreno Aranguren, Marlies Pekarek, Alexandra Vogt
With the exhibition Meeting Point, Kunstverein Konstanz in cooperation with Kunstraum Kreuzlingen commemorates the Council of Constance, a most important event of the Late Middle Ages that lasted from 1414 to 1418.
Just as in the early 15th century council delegates from all over turned to Constance, national and international artists were invited by Kunstverein Konstanz to explore the city and to get to know its varied history. On-site at the location of their choice, they developed their exhibition contributions in various media.
For example, in the Sylvester Chapel of the cathedral, an anatomically realistic heart of 600 year-old-wood has been installed to recall the Czech reformer Jan Hus (Nick Crowe and Ian Rawlinson). Colourful flags hanging from the Rhine Bridge, establish new forms of unnamed belonging and do not represent symbols of origin or nation (Gili Avissar). A light installation near the cathedral brings light and enlightenment into the world (Alexej Meschtschanow). At Tiroler Stube, made using old material and forced to fit in the passage to the Kunstvereinshof, exhibition visitors can find (emergency) quarters for a night free of charge (Hannes Egger – Overnight stays at Tiroler Stube can be booked via tirolerstube@meetingpoint-2015.eu. The events programme at this location will be announced on the website). The abandoned housing of an Allgäu sect movement in Kreuzlinger Kunstraum documents religious fanaticism and poses the question of acceptance and tolerance, as does the video work, which shows a puzzling, apocalyptic settlement in the forest (Alexandra Vogt). A bronze figure, tracing the historical figure Hus, casts shadows in a dark room. At the same time, a wax figure invites the beholders to change the light, easily shaped material with their own hands (Markus Daum). From the moving history of the council, themes such as religion and tolerance, encounter and communication, or hospitality and cultural diversity emerge, along with justice and reliability, particularly in the year of Jan Hus. These issues that make clear how much this medieval church event still protrudes into our present and offers itself as a point of reference for contemporary art.
In the numerous exhibition stations in the urban interior and exterior in Constance and Kreuzlingen, Meeting Point commemorates not just the events of the council: the presence of the political issues treated at the time, unresolved even 600 years later.
Contact Kunstverein Konstanz
Wessenbergstrasse 39/41 (im Kulturzentrum am Münster)
D–78462 Konstanz
Telephone +49-7531-22351
info@kunstverein-konstanz.de
info@meetingpoint-2015.eu
http://www.meetingpoint-2015.eu
http://www.kunstverein-konstanz.de
http://www.kunstraum-kreuzlingen.ch
http://www.konstanzer-konzil.de
Hannes Egger 