Group Affinity

During the recent renovation of the Munich Kunstverein, workers discovered part of an old exhibition behind a wall which the association’s former director Reiner Kallhardt had created in 1970. Kallhardt had provided rooms for art academy students to protest the conventions of the artistic education system. The resulting scandal forced the art association to temporarily close. The discovery provided the impulse for this international project. The goal of the project was to take a fresh look at modern artistic conventions and the role of the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Once again, the art association engaged in discourse about the prevailing criteria for assessing aesthetics – a discourse which has frequently caused tensions between the art association and institutions which firmly advocate canonization in the art field. An “alternative academy” comprised of five artists’ collectives offered public lectures and workshops, seminars and performances. These gave artists the opportunity to redefine themselves, which in view of current developments could be a suitable form of artistic education and production. The events focused on a wide range of topics, from participatory architecture and performative methods to issues regarding access to historic archives. The academy was followed by an exhibition.

Curators: Bart van der Heide, Binna Choi (NL)
Artists’ collectives: Chicago Boys, Grand Openings, Cinenova, Andreas Müller & Susanne Pietsch and Slavs and Tatars.

Venue and schedule:
Kunstverein München
Summer school 1 – 14 August 2011
Exhibition 15 August – 11 September 2011
Opening 14 August 2011, 2pm