Europe is a garden where there is the best combination of political freedom, economic prosperity and social cohesion. And the rest of the world? It’s largely a jungle. At least that’s what it says in the video “The Maelström” by Santiago Sierra, which is currently showing at the Kunstraum München on opening days at 4 and 6 p.m. If the gardeners do nothing, the male voice says, the people will come out of the jungle. Even a wall won’t stop them. They are young, black men in the video. You can only see them from behind. They walk hunched over with their hands tied or stand against the wall with their hands raised. At some point you only see them as silhouettes. These become patterns and ultimately the vortex, the “Maelström”.
The constantly repeating voice comes from Josep Borrell Fontelles, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. In October 2022, the Spaniard was online with his discoverable speech addressed to 50 young diplomats at the European Diplomatic Academy. His message: Take care of the jungle out there. And even if Borrell advocates exchange and diplomacy, the fact that he “stages” the rest of the world as a threat to “privileged” Europe sounds arrogant and worrying. A black and white image that stirs up fears and that Sierra strongly criticizes by exaggerating it into “Maelström”.
The Spaniard Santiago Sierra is best known for his provocative performances. And for the double exhibition “Santiago Sierra / Franz Erhard Walther“He was also invited primarily as a performance artist. So on October 15th at 3 p.m. the performance “Krauss-Maffei Raus” he designed will be held again in the Kunstraum and on the Isar. Refugees from war zones will be photographed. But in the photographs, like the men in the video, you will only see them from behind. Representing many anonymous war victims?
The process and performance artist Franz Erhard Walther was a former teacher at Santiago Sierra. That is why they are now being presented together in the exhibition that is part of the “50 Years of Art Space” anniversary program. Walther will be in the Kunstraum (Holzstraße 10) for a talk on October 7th at 7 p.m. One day later, from 3 p.m., he will “activate” objects made from cotton fabric in the Haus der Kunst and then in the art room. He did this in 2020 at the Haus der Kunst, which dedicated a retrospective to him at the time. Before that, the artist, who was rediscovered in recent years, was honored with the Golden Lion in Venice in 2017.