Jarosław Kozakiewicz, "Oxygen Towers" (2005). Photo courtesy of Newtopia
Two influential Polish artists are part of the major international contemporary exhibition that charts the development of the human rights movement through art
Newtopia: The State of Human Rights brings together 70 artists from all over the world to explore the fluctuating discourse on human rights since the post-war era through today's post-911 realities, touching upon civil, political, economic and ecological issues across diverse media. Collectively these artists present broad range of artistic responses to the basic tenets of human rights. Over 60 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was established, the world is still grappling with the discourse on human rights in light of conflicts in Syria, China, North Korea or Sierra Leone. The exhibition takes a multi-layered view into the evolving character of human rights, its discourse and its problematics, including the conflict between universalism and cultural relativism.
Krzysztof Wodiczko is among the 4 artists invited to create a solo project for the show. He debuts an entirely new project consisting of a public video projection on the façade of the historic City Hall. The New Mechelinians transforms the institution into a cultural communication vehicle for the city's residents, in particular its immigrant newcomers. Wodiczko has gained renown in the world for his monumental projections in the public space, referencing issues of power, political oppression, alienation, social injustice and history. These works refer to the essence of human rights for all, even for those who are often held on the fringes of society, such as war veterans, minorities, immigrants and the homeless. In 1998 Wodiczko was awarded the Hiroshima Art Prize. Currently he is Professor in Residence of Art, Design, and the Public Domain at Harvard University (Graduate School of Design). He represented Poland 53rd Venice Biennale (2009) and took part in Documenta6 (1977) and Documenta 8 (1988) in Kassel.
Jarosław Kozakiewicz, an artist whose practice stretches between art, science and architecture, presents a project that offers a green solution to the structure of a skyscraper. The two irregular ovals of the building are meant to represent human lungs, while the rest of the building is home to a hanging garden that provides an oasis in the middle of the city. The project began as a reaction to Manhattan’s skyscrapers, and the idea of self-sufficiency as defined by numerous technological utopias. In Oxygen Towers The artist strove to join the idea of technological progress with elements of green, addressing the issue of air pollution and artificial ventilation to stand up for the right to fresh air as a fundemental one. According to Kozakiewicz, Oxygen Towers proposes a model of synthetic anthropological urbanism that is open to local ecology.
Kozakiewicz has carried out a number of ecologically-minded projects in the urban space, winning prizes and competitions, such as the design competition for the Park of Reconciliation near the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. In 2007, the Mars Project was completed - a massive landscape-redesign in a former lignite-mining area around Lake Baerwalde, Germany, creating a hilly landscape shaped like a giant human auricle. In 2006 Kozakiewicz represented Poland at the International Architecture Exhibition in Venice.
Newtopia: the State of Human Rights takes place in six cultural institutions and in public spaces in the historic city centre of Mechelen, between the 1st of September - 10th of December 2012. It follows four thematic chapters and presents four large-scale solo projects. The projects also features a fringe programme including film, literature, music, as well as conversations with artists. The exhibition precedes the opening of the Kazerne Dossin Memorial, Museum and Documentation Centre on Holocaust and Human Rights.
Newtopia also extends its reach geographically, with a satellite solo exhibition of the internationally acclaimed Chilean artist Alfredo Jaar, at the ING Cultural Centre on the Koningsplein/Place Royale in the heart of Brussels, from the 10th October to the 10th December 2012.
Curator: Katerina Gregos.
The exhibition is an initiative of the City of Mechelen and is supported by the Council of Europe, the Flemish Community and the Province of Antwerp. Partners include Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch are and MO* magazine.
Other artists featured in the exhibition include: David Goldblatt (South Africa), Mona Hatoum (Lebanon/UK), Hans Haacke (Germany/USA), Alfredo Jaar (Chile), Taryn Simon (USA), Kader Attia (France/Algeria), Ziyah Gafiç (Bosnia/Herzegovina), Diango Hernandez (Cuba), Hayv Kahraman (Iraq), MadeIn (China), Boniface Mwangi (Kenya).
For more information on the exhibition, see: www.newtopia.be
Editor: Agnieszka Le Nart
Source: Press info
Thumbnail credit: Krzysztof Wodiczko "The New Mechelinians". Photo courtesy of Newtopia