31 Mar 2008

4th Triennale of Contemporary Art, Oberschwaben, Friedrichshafen

Nothing to Declare http://

With their concept for the exhibition Nothing to declare, curators Barnaby Drabble, Dorothee Messmer and Sibylle Omlin respond to the specific qualities of the town of Friedrichshafen, and more broadly the Lake Constance region. Their selection of over forty regional, national and international artists for the triennale, with around a quarter making new works, makes up an exhibition that explores the themes of identity, borders and migration that condition life in the region and arise from the geographical and historical context it provides.

 

Centred on Friedrichshafen, with presentations at the Zeppelin Museum and the Kunstverein, and works distributed in the town’s public space, the exhibition extends over the lake to Austria and Switzerland with further parts of the exhibition to be found at the Künstlerhaus Thurn and Taxis in Bregenz und the Kunstraum in Kreuzlingen.

 

The focus on the activities of border-crossing, migration and reinvention, and the issues of identity formation, and of seeking new perspectives on the familiar, stem from the emotional history of the town of Friedrichshafen itself, as a border point with an active customs office, as the home of the Zeppelin airship and as the site of devastating bombing at the end of WW2. It is not the least of the roles of borders, to seek to define difference, and with this identity. But, to which region, which country or which city can we say we really belong? How is a city, town or region’s identity constructed?  How are the boundaries to other regions, or other cultures, established?

 

The commissioned projects for the exhibition have seen local and international artists visiting the region and researching these and related questions. The works they present aim to offer triennale visitors, whether locals or guests, new and exciting artistic insights with reference to the place where they find themselves. Having nothing to declare can, after all, also be understood as having nothing to hide.

 

Participating artists: Lida Abdul, Carla Ahlander, Thom Barth, Otto Berchem, Karolin Bräg, Nathan Coley, Com&Com, Raphaël Cuomo & Maria Iorio, Martin Dammann, Beth Derbyshire, Hansruedi Fricker, Rainer Ganahl, Per Hüttner, Andrea Iten, Ruediger John, San Keller, Christian Konzett, Martin Krenn, Anne Lorenz, Kurt Matt, Yves Mettler, Chantal Michel, Alexander Odermatt, Walid Raad /The Atlas Group, Oliver Ressler , Frank & Patrik Riklin, Christof Salzmann, Eran Schaerf, Christian Schwager, Ulrike Shepherd, Roman Signer, Steffenschöni, Ernst Thoma, Sofie Thorsen, Miriam Thyes, Richard Tisserand, Kerstin Wagener, Zoë Walker & Neil Bromwich, Georg Winter, YKON (Sasha Huber, Tellervo Kalleinen, Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, Petri Saarikko und Tomas Träskman)

 

The exhibition is accompanied by a discussion and screenings program in the Mediahaus k42, Friedrichshafen.