Transcending geographical borders

Artist Candice Breitz on exploring ideas of identity and establishing Germany as a haven for artists from across the world

October 03, 2017 09:31 pm | Updated 09:31 pm IST

Dressed in a grey spaghetti-strapped top teamed with a blue checked shirt and indigo jeans, a girl sits on a sofa. With side swept hair and bright yellow manicured nails, she talks to the camera. On an adjacent screen, you think that you are seeing the same girl. But actually it is her twin. Dressed in similar attire and sitting in the same position, both of them exude an identical body language and even the same fashion sense, right down to the painted nails and hair style. The two South Korean twin siblings are talking about growing up in Toronto and share stories about how their parents met and fell in love, being bullied as kids in school and what it meant for them to grow up alike yet different in a distant country far away from their roots.

Titled Factum Kang by artist Candice Breitz, the video explores questions about identity and the influence of heredity and environment on an individual’s personality. This, along with many other works, is on display as part of an ongoing art exhibition titled Kunstraum Deutschland: Art Space Germany. It features original creations by artists such as Armando, Tony Cragg, Marianne Eigenheer, Ayse Erkmen, Christine Hill, Magdalena Jetelová, Per Kirkeby, Joseph Kosuth, Marie-Jo Lafontaine, Nam June Paik, Giuseppe Spagnulo and Herman de Vries.

All of them share one commonality—they are from different nationalities but have made Germany their home over the years and have won recognition and acclaim there rather than their native country.

Space of art

Curated by Ursula Zeller, Kunstraum Deutschland: Art Space Germany has a cultural and political significance. It throws light on Germany as a ‘space of art’, which is largely due to the country’s open federal policy. While many German artists moved to the art metropolis of Paris in the 1950s or to New York beginning in the 1960s, artists from other nations made a conscious decision to (re)locate themselves and their art in Germany. Their contribution, in terms of new ideas, aesthetics and artistic language, has become an integral part of the art discourse in Germany. Today, they not only hold important positions in academia but also exhibit their works in important institutions in Germany and abroad and have influenced the next generation of artists.

For instance, Nam June Paik, who is considered the founder of video art, was a Professor at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art for almost 20 years (1976-96). Likewise, Breitz , who was born in South Africa and now lives in Berlin, teaches at the Braunschweig University of Art and has had solo exhibitions at Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Kunsthaus Bregenz and Palais de Tokyo (Paris).

All the art works on display at Kunstraum Deutschland: Art Space Germany are distinct. British-born sculptor Tony Cragg uses plastic, varnish and paint to create ‘Flotsam’, a collection of stacked vessels. Inspired by the tiling on the walls and floor of the Macka Sanat Galerisi in Istanbul, Ayşe Erkmen creates 17 trapezoid metal bodies and addresses questions about order and chaos.

Many definitions of home

Breitz moved to New York from South Africa at the age of 21 when policies of boycott and cultural isolation were quite prominent in her native country. Many countries decided not to have cultural exchanges with South Africa. As a result, local artists rarely got the opportunity to travel and work outside their country. Breitz found her calling in the US but decided to move to Berlin after the 9/11 attack. She says, “I never got a chance to show my work extensively in South Africa as the government didn’t value the work of local artists. I decided to leave New York after 9/11 as that event reminded me of the political apartheid that I had witnessed during my growing up years in South Africa. All the funds that are given to artists in Berlin are based on the fact whether they live in that city and not whether they are Germans. That was what drew me to Berlin.”

Breitz’s life experiences as well the quest to discover why we define ourselves through others prompted her to start working on Factum Kang in the year 2009. She felt that speaking to twins would be an interesting way to explore this phenomenon as they have a heightened sense of awareness of how they are shaped by the other. According to her, twins are taught from a very early age, how to negotiate their differences and alikeness, she says, “I decided to make video portraits of several twins who are based in Toronto but hail from diverse countries. I interviewed each one of them while the other twin was away. I asked them the same set of questions, ensured that they never got a chance to discuss the answers and even requested them to dress alike. Though these two sisters grew up speaking Korean, went to the same school and were exposed to the same surroundings, they were individuals in their own right. It was interesting to listen to both of them defining themselves against each other. There were moments when the sameness was almost unbearable as they had even had similar dreams. Yet at other moments, they couldn’t be more different in their views and opinions.”

Breitz, feels such exhibitions are the need of the hour. “We are living in times when people are retreating into their respective religious communities. This exhibition becomes important against this background. It shows the extent to which foreigners contribute to the rich cultural landscape of Germany. Diversity makes a country culturally great. Through diversity, you feel the limitations of all the propaganda that has been fed to you as you are growing up,” she emphasises.

Kunstraum Deutschland: Art Space Germany is ongoing at Gallery MMB, Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan until October 8

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