POLITICS OF ART - EMST Athens 27.11.2010

To celebrate the 10 years of operation of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens a large scale exhibition titled Politics of Art, From the EMST collection, is being organized from October 13, 2010 until January 30, 2011.

The aim of the exhibition, passing from the politics of the collection to the politics of art, is to investigate, through different fields, the ways and strategies of the presented works, which explicitly or implicitly refer to political, financial and social issues and events, the political potential of contemporary art, its invention as a new way of speaking about what the politicians and scholars are addressing, its possibility to function as a pivot of critical and alternative political thinking. The political uses of public space, the states and experiences of oppression, the violent socio-political conflicts, the violation of human rights and discrimination, the financial globalization, the reconstruction of collective memory and the reestablishment of a collective social space are some of the issues investigated in a critical light by the works in the exhibition, opening a dialogue with the society and everyday life, seeking alternative policies for collective action and artistic activism and a new interactive relationship between the artist and the community, both local and global.

In the framework of the meetings with artists that come from metropolitan centers and peripheries, scheduled on the occasion of the Politics of Art exhibition, the Austrian artist Oliver Ressler will discuss with the Museum's Director Mrs. Anna Kafetsi, who has curated the exhibition, on Thursday, December 2nd, at 19.00.

The Greek audience will have the opportunity to meet the work of the known activist artist, who participates in EMST's large-scale exhibition with the installation What is Democracy?, 2007-2009

In the words of the artist,: What is democracy?" is not one question, but is actually two questions. On the one hand, the question relates to conditions of the current, parliamentary representative democracies that are scrutinized critically in this project. On the other hand, the question traces different approaches to what a more democratic system might look like and which organizational forms it could take. The project asked "What is democracy?" to numerous activists and political analysts in 18 cities around the world... The interviews have been recorded on video since January 2007. Even though all interviewees were asked the same question, the result was a multiplicity of different perspectives and viewpoints from people living in states that are usually labeled "democracies".

Oliver Ressler was born in 1970 in Knittelfeld, Austria. From 1989-1995 he studied at the University for Applied Arts in Vienna. He is an artist who is doing projects on various socio-political themes. Since 1994 he has been concerned with theme specific exhibitions, projects in public space, and videos on issues of racism, migration, genetic engineering, economics, forms of resistance and social alternatives. Many of Ressler's works are produced as collaborations: The ongoing project "Boom!" with the US-artist David Thorne, the films "Venezuela from Below" and "5 Factories–Worker Control in Venezuela" with the political analyst Dario Azzellini, and numerous of projects on racism and migration with artist Martin Krenn. Recently the film "What Would It Mean To Win?" in collaboration with the Australian artist Zanny Begg has been finished. He has participated in various exhibitions such as What Is Democracy?, Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum – ACAF, Alexandria, 2010, Rewind, Fast Forward. Video Art from the Collection of the Neue Galerie, Neue Galerie, Graz, 2009, Disobedience – An ongoing video archive, MNAC – National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, 2009, Retracing Territories, Fri-Art–Centre d'Art Contemporain, Fribourg, 2007, transRobota, 7th Baltic Biennial of Contemporary Art, National Museum, Szczecin, 2007. He lives and works in Vienna.

National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens
Building of the Athens Conservatory, Vas. Georgiou B'17-19 &
Athens, Greece
Opening Hours
Tuesday - Sunday: 11.00 – 19.00
Thursday: 11.00 – 22.00
Monday: closed

Photo: George Osodi, "Oil Rich Niger Delta," 2003-2007.
Photographic installation, projection of 120 digital photographs, duration: 10' loop.