(Y)Ourselves Alone

English

(Y)Ourselves Alone / Wir unter uns

Für die Ausstellung ‚The Prehistory of Crisis (2)’, kuratiert von Tessa Giblin und Mónica Núñez
2.7.-15.8.2009 Dublin Project Arts Centre und
1.7.-7.8.2009 Belfast Exposed Photography
Susanne Bosch, Anthony Haughey, Daniel Jewesbury und Sinéad McCann

Die Gruppenausstellung ‚’The Prehistory of Crisis (2)’ zeigte neue Arbeiten als Antwort auf das sich verändernde wirtschaftliche und kulturelle Klima, die Migration und die Einstellung gegenüber Minderheiten. Die Künstler*innen versuchten, eine Diskussion zu eröffnen – sie abstrahierten Vorstellungen von Machtspiel und Entmachtung, um aufzuzeigen, was die Zukunft bringen könnte, und gaben ansonsten unhörbaren Positionen eine Stimme. „Sinn Féin“ heißt übersetzt „Wir allein“ oder „Wir unter uns“ und bezieht sich historisch auf ein seit Jahrhunderten besetztes und kolonisiertes Irland. „Irland ist nicht wie andere europäische Länder. Es ist historisch gesehen ein kolonisiertes Land, kein Kolonialherr, manche würden sagen, Nordirland sei immer noch eine Kolonie … Seine unruhige Geschichte hinterließ  das Erbe einer Minderheitenfrage.“ ‚Ourselves Alone‘ (Wir unter uns) ist ein Begriff, der heutzutage eine irreale nationale Vorstellung formuliert, sich um die eigene Gemeinschaft kümmern zu können. Es scheint eine Schlussfolgerung um mit einer ökonomischen Krisensituation umzugehen. Der Begriff beinhaltet auch die Idee, Menschen (ausländische Mitglieder der Gemeinschaft) in ihren Herkunftsort zurück zu schicken. Auf acht Plakaten und einer Plakatwand hat Susanne Bosch Objekte und Personen aus Bildern ausgeschnitten, die eindeutig keinen Ursprung in Irland haben. Der Idee folgend, „unter uns“ zu sein, entfernte sie konsequent „fremde Objekte“, alles, was nicht lokal ist.

(Y)Ourselves Alone

For the exhibition ‚The Prehistory of Crisis (2)’, curated by Tessa Giblin and Mónica Núñez.
2 July -15 August 2009 Dublin Project Arts Centre and
1 July -7 August 2009 Belfast Exposed Photography

Susanne Bosch, Anthony Haughey, Daniel Jewesbury and Sinéad McCann

„As Ireland experiences recession and unemployment rapidly rises, four artists with a common interest in the complexities of multicultural living come together to examine attitudes to migration before this period of crisis.
The Prehistory of the Crisis (2) will present new work in response to the changing economic and cultural climate, migration and attitudes towards minority groups. The artists will attempt to open a public discussion – abstracting notions of power play and disempowerment to suggest what the future may hold and giving a voice to otherwise muted perspectives.
Check out photos from our opening night here.
Commissioned by Project Arts Centre and presented in conjunction with Belfast Exposed.

As the stones shift beneath our feet, where will discontent arise? Has post-boom Ireland already begun to witness an upsurge in nationalism as unemployment rises rapidly in 2009?
Project Arts Centre and Belfast Exposed have invited four artists with a common interest in the complexities of multi-cultural living to make new work for The Prehistory of the Crisis (2). This exhibition brings Susanne Bosch, Anthony Haughey, Daniel Jewesbury and Sinéad McCann together at a time in history when economic recession underscores every cultural and artistic event taking place in Ireland, North and South. This situation is not just symptomatic of the recession that has hit many globalised economies since 2008. Ireland’s recession brings with it one of the most pronounced changes in fortune, and significantly, Ireland’s first major drop in productivity since the boom days – the swan-song of the Celtic Tiger. For Northern Ireland the credit squeeze, compounded by cuts in public spending, threaten the unfinished work of economic and social regeneration promised by the peace process.
Many migrant workers have left Ireland in recent months and with imminent changes to the eligibility for new work permits coming into effect across both jurisdictions, many more non-EEA citizens will be denied the right to work, forcing them to leave the country. The Prehistory of the Crisis (2) situates itself in a moment when the idea of crisis is twofold: while the term is strongly associated with the impact of economic recession, the cultural crisis which might or might not emerge is bound to be characterised by a relationship to ‘the other’.
The Prehistory of the Crisis (2) will be presented simultaneously in Project Arts Centre in Dublin and Belfast Exposed in Belfast, split over the UK and the Republic of Ireland, yet united by the island of Ireland. The art works in each exhibition are related, but not identical, and we hope to build a web of discourse between these two exhibitions which can help to open a public discussion about migration and attitudes towards individuals or minority groups. The artists don’t propose solutions to these problems, instead they will attempt to cast the discussion in new light – abstracting and performing notions of power play and disempowerment, suggesting what the future may hold. They will give a voice to otherwise muted perspectives, and provide a window into scenarios and activities, allowing spectators to design their own response to the exhibition.
This exhibition was preceded by The Prehistory of the Crisis (I) at Project Arts Centre in 2008, which brought together four European artworks and artists, Patrick Bernier & Olive Martin (FR), Jeanne Faust & Jörn Zehe (DE), Aernout Mik (NL), Andrijana Stojkovic (RS). Each of the artworks drew attention to the shifting attitudes towards immigrants (often within the contexts of various guest worker schemes), and the resulting clashes, conflicts or crises that have played a major role in defining ideas of culture within countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and France.
Biographies
Susanne Bosch (b. 1967, Wesel) is a German artist living in Belfast. Her work involves site-specific, gallery and context-based interventions and installations, publications as well as collaborative projects and is usually based in long-term research questions such as art and its potential for change in contested societies and situations. Susanne is pathway leader (together with Dan Shipsides) of the MA Art in Public, University of Ulster, Belfast. Previously she lived and worked in Berlin and was an assistant professor at the Bauhaus-University Weimar, Germany. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally, most recently taking part in Madrid Abierto 2009-10, The Common Good: The Enterprise of Art, PAN Naples (2008), and FIX 07 – 7th International Performance Festival, Belfast (2007). www.susannebosch.de.
Sinéad McCann (b. Dublin, 1982) holds a BA in Fine Art Sculpture from Dublin Institute of Technology and an MFA in Fine Art Sculpture from the National College of Art and Design. Her practice investigates urban living in regenerative urban areas and often presents the voices of marginal groups of people, while responding to and interrupting dominant codes existing in urban, social and institutional contexts. She has exhibited and worked on a diverse range of projects in Ireland, Glasgow, Sweden and Chicago, in both gallery and non-gallery contexts.  Her practice is transversal and uses various sculptural and per-formative processes. It crosses many boundaries and contexts including collaborative projects with artists, researchers, writers, communities, musicians, dancers and actors.
Anthony Haughey (b. Armagh, 1963) is an artist and lecturer/researcher at the Dublin Institute of Technology where he is also a PhD supervisor at the Centre for Research in Transcultural Media Practice. He is an editorial advisor for the photographic journal Photographies. His recent work investigates new modes of citizenship. He has exhibited widely internationally, and recent exhibitions include Encounter at the Korea Foundation Cultural Center, Seoul and a public art intervention, How to be a Model Citizen in Dublin Civic Offices. Forthcoming exhibitions include his installation Class of 73 at Les Rencontres d’Arles 09.
Daniel Jewesbury (b. London, 1973) completed a Ph.D at the University of Ulster in 2001, having studied Sculpture at the National College of Art & Design, Dublin. Daniel’s work has been shown internationally, including at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and Manifesta 3 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Having used many media in the past, including video, photography and radio, he is now concentrating on the use of 16mm film. His solo exhibition at Void, Derry, in 2007, featured two new works shot in 16mm, No Special Place and 10 Monologues. Daniel is also a widely-published writer, in such titles as Source, Mute, Third Text, Variant (of which he is a co-editor) and The Vacuum, and the Northern Representative for Visual Artists Ireland.

The Prehistory of the Crisis (2) will present new work in response to the changing economic and cultural climate, migration and attitudes towards minority groups. The artists will attempt to open a public discussion – abstracting notions of power play and disempowerment to suggest what the future may hold and giving a voice to otherwise muted perspectives.
A series of talks will accompany The Prehistory of the Crisis (2). A public talk and discussion on immigration and the economic crisis in Ireland., focusing specifically on the following questions raised by the exhibition: What effect will the economic downturn have on Irish Culture? How has our Irish welcome changed as a result of the recession?“

Year

2009

Susanne's Involvement

Artist

Press

Press

Category
Exhibitions, Practice
Tags
Kunstprojekt, Migration, Nordirlandkonflikt, the border