DEMO:POLIS. The Right to Public Space March 11 until 29 May, 2016 Exhibition and events

Tickets € 8/5

Exhibition opening: Friday, March 11, 7pm, free admission

Symposia:

Friday, March 11, 2016, 6pm, free admission

Saturday, March 12, 2016, 6pm, free admission with exhibition ticket

The public space has become a political arena; its use and design is a matter of negotiation for the future. The public continues to make new demands on the basic principles of democracy and on the design of public spaces in which these are negotiated. DEMO:POLIS introduces the scope and significance of public space for contemporary society. Exemplary works, films, models, designs, concepts by artists and architects as well as participatory models, stress the potentials of public spaces for our civil society.

Works by artists including Nuno Cera, Boris Charmatz, Hans Haacke, Birgit Hein, Reinhild Hoffmann, Elfi Mikesch, Michael Najjar, Michael Ruetz, Stih & Schnock, Wermke / Leinkauf, among others, will be shown, as well as designs and buildings by the architects Barkow Leibinger, Foster + Partners, Seán Harrington, Kleihues + Kleihues, Lacaton & Vassal, Andrés Mignucci, Rozana Montiel, Sadar + Vuga, Michael van Valkenburgh, Zuloark, et al.

Numerous special events will take place during the course of the exhibition: during the opening weekend on March 11 and 12, 2016, several of the artists and architects whose works are on display will provide insights into their working methods; a two-day conference in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut is planned to conclude the exhibition. In the exhibition, the fellows of the Junge Akademie will present critical works, installations and compositions; in addition, they will be hosting two themed program nights. The educational program KUNSTWELTEN (ART WORLDS) will offer guided tours and workshops for schools.

A catalogue in separate German and English editions will be published to accompany the exhibition. The exhibition is curated by Wilfried Wang, Berlin, member of the Akademie der Künste and O’Neil Ford Professor, University of Texas at Austin; Barbara Hoidn, Berlin, is the editor of the catalogue.

Cooperation Partners: O'Neil Ford Centennial Professorship in Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin, USA; Institute of 4D Technologies, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, FHNW; Future Cities Laboratory, ETH Zürich; Northumbria University; Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg; Technische Universität Berlin; Universität der Künste Berlin; Kunsthochschule Berlin Weißensee; University of Applied Arts, Potsdam; Goethe-Institut, AC/E Madrid.

An exhibition by the Akademie der Künste. With kind support of the Society of Friends of the Akademie der Künste