Today, March 15th 2019, the first “Day of the Art of Printing”, the anniversary of the inclusion of artistic printing techniques in the National Directory of Intangible Cultural Heritage by the German UNESCO Commission, will take place nationwide. On March 23rd, Gregor Jansen (Kunsthalle Düsseldorf) and Andreas Schalhorn (Kupferstichkabinett Berlin) will dedicate a panel discussion to the topic “From Pre- to Postdigital Reproductive Art in Brazil and Germany”. The discussion will take place at the Leipzig Book Fair and will be moderated by Ludwig Seyfarth.
Abb. oben: Die Macht der Vervielfältigung, 28.02.-23.03.2019, Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei, Photo: Walther Le Kon
“The influence of political events and social conditions can be seen in prints like no other art form,” said Klaus-Dieter Lehmann, President of the Goethe-Institut, in his opening speech to the exhibition “Die Macht der Vervielfältigung” (> The Power of Duplication) at the Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei “This was the case in the Brazilian military dictatorship – as the screen prints by Regina Silveira from the 1970s, which can be seen in this exhibition, prove – but also and especially in the GDR. Lehmann continues that printmaking is currently experiencing a worldwide renaissance among both established and young artists: “Artists are reinventing ancient technology, experimenting with digital media and new materials. Many artists use the process of printing in the broadest sense to open up new political and aesthetic spaces”.
Curator of the exhibition Gregor Jansen added: “The third major media revolution of the 20th century, after writing and printing, is the digitization with computers, mobile phones, the Internet, and AI. As a technical innovation, this radical break with everything familiar has a direct impact on the mentality of society, such as the media revolution of around 1500. Serial and mass production are generally the cornerstones of the modern economy. They are based on the principle of minimizing production costs through mechanized reproduction, which has now also found its way into biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and genetic engineering. Everywhere it is about serial production, which always also includes political dimensions, no longer only for books or leaflets. In this respect, these powers of reproduction are changing the world faster and more strongly than oil and dynamite”.
In the exhibition of the Goethe-Institut Porto Alegre, 14 artists from Rio Grande do Sul and Germany illuminate various facets of reproduction and use the medium of graphic art to illustrate how art is able to pose politically and socially relevant questions in Latin America, but also in Germany historically and today. In the course of digitalization, processes of reproduction seem to have become commonplace – but what effects do they have on art and society?
Under the title “From Pre- to Postdigital Reproductive Art in Brazil and Germany”, a panel discussion with Andreas Schalhorn (Kupferstichkabinett Berlin) and Gregor Jansen (curator of the exhibition/director Kunsthalle der Düsseldorf) will take place at the end of the exhibition and parallel to the Leipzig Book Fair on March 23rd at 3 pm. The discussion will be moderated by Ludwig Seyfarth.
On March 16th at 12 noon there will also be a final public tour of the exhibition in the Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei (Hall 12). Admission is free.
WHAT?
Panel discussion „Von Prä- zu Postdigitaler Reproduktiver Kunst in Brasilien und Deutschland“, discussion on the Leipzig Book Fair with Gregor Jansen (Kunsthalle Düsseldorf) and Andreas Schalhorn (Kupferstichkabinett Berlin). Moderated by Ludwig Seyfarth.
WHEN?
Saturday, March 23rd 2019, 3 pm
WHERE?
Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei, Hall 14
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