This year, the curators – Stanisław Welbel from Poland and Julia Kurz from Germany – and the featured artists are seeking an answer to the question of what constitutes freedom and the exchange of ideas in a situation when art is financed by both public and private money. The two parts of the exhibition – in the Deutsche Bank KunstHalle and the Polish Institute in Berlin – are platforms for a variety of artistic statements.
The title ‘Common Affairs’ is ambiguous: it may mean ‘shared affairs’ or ‘usual affairs’. The title is followed by a subtitle: Revisiting the Views Award – Contemporary Art from Poland. The exhibition is held at the same time as the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Polish-German Treaty of Good Neighbourship.
The organisers comment in the press materials:
But the decision to organise the exhibition was not connected with the promotion of any particular institution, nor with the celebration of the award itself or even the honouring of political differences. It emerges rather from the shared conviction that Polish art is important and worth attention. Contemporary artists have something important to say: here and now. To the public, to the organisers and also to the curators, to critics and to each other.
‘Common Affairs. Revisiting The Views Award – Contemporary Art from Poland’
Deutsche Bank KunstHalle, Polish Institute in Berlin
21st July – 30th October 2016
Artists: Paweł Althamer, Supergrupa Azorro, Tymek Borowski, Karolina Breguła, Elżbieta Jabłońska, Rafał Jakubowicz, Łukasz Jastrubczak, Anna Molska, Anna Okrasko, Agnieszka Polska & Witek Orski, Karol Radziszewski, Janek Simon, Konrad Smoleński, Monika Sosnowska, Iza Tarasewicz, Piotr Wysocki
Curators: Julia Kurz, Stanisław Welbel
Organisers: Deutsche Bank KunstHalle, Polish Institute in Berlin, Zachęta National Gallery of Art
Partners: City of Warsaw, Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation, Culture.pl