Bodies, un-protected

Bodies are the central sites of conceptual and ideological conflicts. As projection surfaces and symbols, as witnesses and agents, they beg the question: Which bodies are (not) worth protecting and on what basis? The type of protection granted differs depending on the body. For some, it's about preserving physical integrity, while for others, protection extends to the symbolic and metaphorical integrity of the body. The way we perceive bodies and translate them into movements, words and ideas is closely bound to their ability to act. Their worthiness of and access to protection is tied to how we interpret skin colours, gestures and physical traits of class, age, gender and ethnicity. Art plays a key role in this process of interpretation. On one hand, it can make different bodies visible and demonstrate why they deserve protection: On the other, they allow us to observe, experience and describe how normative attributions can provide or deny protection to a body.
The programme series "Bodies, un-protected" at the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm sheds light on this connection between aesthetics and socio-political action, interweaving artistic production, presentation, reflection, education and documentation. The core of the series comprises the development and presentation of four commissioned pieces on the body-protection relationship, each of which will be developed by interdisciplinary teams of artists and experts from various fields. In order to provide a multifaceted perspective on the topic, the programme   in Frankfurt will be supplemented by four additional international event modules. By means of fellowships and student labs, the project aims to integrate younger target groups into the artistic and discursive processes in the sense of collective learning.

Artistic director: Sandra Noeth
Artists/project participants: Basel Abbas, Ruanne Abou-Rahme, Omar Al-Dewachi, Núria Güell, Bharati Kapadia, Shahram Khosravi, James Martel, Sophie Mendelsohn, Hakan Topal and others

Opening event programme Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt a.M.: 11 – 14 Nov. 2021; event modules in various cities: 7 Mar. – 26 Jun. 2022; concluding event programme Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt a.M.: 6 – 10 Jul. 2022