28 Apr 2014

Department for Public Appearances at Kunstpavillon im Alten Botanischen Garten (Munich)

The Art Pavilion in Munich's Old Botanical Garden presents an extensive exhibition of works by the Department for Public Appearances. This artist collective has been creating and implementing participatory projects and interventions into public spaces since 1995. The Department for Public Appearances consists of the following artists: Peter Boerboom, Gabriele Obermaier, Carola Vogt, and Silke Witzsch.

In various urban space settings, the Department for Public Appearances addresses and involves community members directly and collects on-site information to create a survey of the general mood of the passersby. The purpose of these surveys is mainly the participatory construction of a general public.

In the exhibition, the art group transforms its temporary public performances into the gallery space. The activities are not only transported from urban space into the art space but are also transformed from a completed past into an actual present. In particular, they are re-contextualized and thus become accessible for thorough reflections that include questions of complex authorship and representation.

The centerpiece of the exhibition at Kunstpavillon is the most recent group of works titled Personal Opinion as Public Appearance. The works shown include projects such as easyVote (Basel 2013), Showing One's Colors (Dakar 2013), public [dis] / [re] appearance (Munich 2013/2014), and Do you look on the black side? (Istanbul and Tyrol 2011).

Curated by Ralf Homann

The exhibition is the first in a series of events at Kunstpavillon, dedicated to the works and collective operations of a group of contemporary artists especially selected for this occasion. Kunstpavillon links this series of promoting collective modes of operation in contemporary artistic practices with the self-reflexive practice of its own history. After the end of World War II an artists' initiative restored the bombed site as their personal contribution to give new democratic Bavaria an artist-run space. Since then, Kunstpavillon has been especially committed to collective collaborations and interrelations of artists. 

Kunstpavillon im Alten Botanischen Garten is principally funded by the Municipal Department of Arts and Culture of the City of Munich. Personal Opinion as Public Appearance is additionally supported by the Free State of Bavaria - Ministry of Education and Culture, Science and Art.