Certainty, Vision - Francke today

Around 1700 August Hermann Francke from the Prussian city of Halle/Saale initiated a reform project like no other in terms of its impact and international recognition. Francke’s progressive ideas regarding education and social welfare spread to Russia, Scandinavia and even India. They manifested themselves as the Francke Foundations which later established a school complex and orphanage in Halle. But what can Francke’s convictions and visions offer us today? The curators and directors of the exhibition have posed this question to several artists and humanities scholars from Europe, Russia and South America. The artists and researchers Sergej Bratkow, Fernando Bryce, Via Lewandowsky, Marc Bijl and Esther Ernst have been invited to Halle to develop their presentations on location. Based on Francke’s ideas, the artists explored the significance and meaning of such terms as certainty and vision for contemporary society.
In cooperation with the broadcasting company MDR and the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, the curators interviewed philosophers (Peter Sloterdijk, Richard David Precht), art theorists (Peter Weibl, Bazon Brock), social psychologists (e.g. Harald Welzer), media researchers and journalists. After the interviews being presented in the media, they were pressed onto vinyl records so that visitors could listen to them at the exhibition. The project was supplemented by a variety of educational programmes primarily targeted at a young audience, and actions in the city of Halle.

Artistic director: Peter Lang, Moritz Götze
Artists: Sergej Bratkow (RUS), Marc Bijl (NL), Christian Jankowski, Via Lewandowsky, Gabriel Machemer, Christian Niccoli (IT), Serkan Özkaya (TR), Esther Ernst (CH)

Franckesche Stiftungen zu Halle, 22 Sep. 2013 – 17 Feb. 2014