“Glutton? Thinking society without growth (> Nimmersatt? Gesellschaft ohne Wachstum denken)” opens at the end of November 2021. As a cooperation between the Kunsthalle Münster, the LWL Museum of Art and Culture and the Westfälischer Kunstverein, “Nimmersatt?” spans three institutions. The exhibition focuses on how human activity and constant growth change our coexistence and the environment. The opening day will take place on Friday, 26 November 2021 from 4 p.m. in the three locations with various talks (more below).
Human activity has a significant impact on the environment. The economically privileged Global North largely follows the view that it has no other option than growth. But growth is finite, processes are out of balance, built on social inequality and an exploitation of nature/environment. This makes it necessary to leave existing paths, to consciously break away from accustomed and taken-for-granted maxims and to put the belief system of more and more and more up for discussion.
One of the ways in which artists participate in society is by making conditions visible and developing visions. The artistic works refer to current crises, social inequality, climate change, illness, war, refugee movements, xenophobia and related developments. Using different artistic means, the exhibition pursues the question of what options exist other than growth. Growth is finite, based on social inequality and the exploitation of people and their environment.
The promise of happiness cannot be fulfilled through prosperity and the constant growth of capital alone. It is necessary to rethink what has been valid so far and to act in the sense of a community. What can take the place of previous economic and social models? How can renunciation become a sustainable routine? What regional and global standards can redefine consumption in a resource- and climate-friendly way and what new ideas can be introduced into society in the sense of creative ingenuity? Can we imagine new goals of living together, individually and collectively change our habits and act?
On display are video installations, drawings, photographs and sculptures as well as works in public space. In addition to a number of loans, the houses are presenting several new productions that were created in dialogue with the curators of the exhibition, Merle Radtke (Kunsthalle Münster), Kristina Scepanski (Westfälischer Kunstverein) and Marianne Wagner (LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur), and are being shown for the first time.
In all three places, artists confront current conditions with visions as well as utopias that think society without growth.
At Kunsthalle Münster, the American-Lebanese artist Marwa Arsanios (1978), among others, addresses the issue of land use rights and seeds in her video trilogy Who Is Afraid of Ideology? (2017/2019/2020), she addresses land use rights and seeds. Arsanios’ films focus on small initiatives in places in Iraq, northern Syria and Colombia. The artist shows how women claim rights to land and connect with nature in an unmediated way through the pursuit of economic independence. Finally, “Part III – Micro Resistencias” (2020), with its idea of local empowerment, offers a way to keep the discussion about seeds and their ownership out of the hands of transnational corporations.
The Beninese artist Georges Adéagbo (1942) creates concrete references to Münster in his newly produced, expansive installation at the LWL Museum of Art and Culture. To this end, he brings found objects and panel paintings, which he commissions from painters in his country of origin Benin, into a dialogue. The relationships of the artefacts illustrate a cultural exchange and plead for the recognition of different cultural roots instead of sovereign claims of the Global North. Adéagbo’s work is also a proposal to learn from each other and to dissolve clichéd ideas and hierarchies in favour of an equal togetherness.
A sculpture made of plastic containers by the French artist Anita Molinero (1953) brings the handling and values of raw materials into focus in front of the entrance to the Westfälischer Kunstverein. It is not the materials traditionally associated with the appearance of sculptures, such as marble or bronze, that are the materials of the 21st century; rather, it is rubbish. With a growing tendency, waste multiplies every day at the expense of others and thus symbolises for Molinero the horizon of human activity.
Artists
Georges Adéagbo (1942 in Cotonou, Dahomey, Benin, lives and works in Hamburg and Benin), Mathis Altmann (1987 in Munich, lives and works in Berlin), Marwa Arsanios (1978 in Washington DC, USA, lives and works in Beirut and Berlin), Andrea Bowers (1965 in Ohio, USA, lives and works in Los Angeles), Alice Creischer (1960 in Gerolstein, Germany, lives and works in Berlin), Cao Fei (1978 in Guangzhou, China, lives and works in Beijing), Thirza Cuthand (1978 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, lives and works in Toronto), Nina Fischer & Maroan el Sani (*1965 in Emden & *1966 in Duisburg, Deutschland, leben und arbeiten in Berlin), Johan Grimonprez (*1962 in Roeselare, Belgium, lives and works in Brussels, Greece and New York City), Christine & Irene Hohenbüchler (both *1964 in Vienna, live and work in Vienna), Karrabing Film Collective (founded in 2008, Northern Territory, Australia), Eva Koťátková (1982 in Prague, lives and works in Prague), Elke Marhöfer (1967 in Adenau/Eifel, lives and works in Berlin and in Sicily, Italy), Anna McCarthy (1981 in Munich, lives and works in Munich), Anita Molinero (1953 in Floriac, France, lives and works in Paris), Matt Mullican (1951 in Santa Monica, California, USA, lives and works in Berlin and New York), Maria D. Rapicavoli (1976 in Catania, Italy, lives and works in New York, USA), Lerato Shadi (born in Mahikeng, South Africa, lives and works in Berlin), Andreas Siekmann (1961 in Hamm, Germany, lives and works in Berlin), Radha D’Souza (1953 in Bommalpalayam, Tamil Nadu, India, lives and works in London, England) and Jonas Staal (1981 in Zwolle, Netherlands, lives and works in Rotterdam), Sophie Utikal (1987 in Tallahassee, Florida, USA, lives and works in Berlin), Raul Walch (*1980 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, lives and works in Berlin)
Programme Opening Day
Friday, 26 November 2021
Free admission to the exhibitions in all three institutions
4 pm: Kunsthalle Münster
Von Kreisläufen, Monopolen und Verantwortung
Welcome: Markus Lewe, Lord Mayor of the City of Münster
Andreas Siekmann, artist in conversation with Merle Radtke, Director Kunsthalle Münster
6 pm: LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur
Erzählungen: Kapitalfluss – Überfluss – Endlichkeit
Welcome: Matthias Löb, LWL Director
Alice Creischer, artist Andreas Löschel, resource economist in conversation with Marianne Wagner, curator LWL Museum of Art and Culture
8 Uhr: Westfälischer Kunstverein
Die Realität übersteigt die Fiktion
Welcome: Tobias Viehoff, Chairman of the Board Westfälischer Kunstverein
Raphael Smarzoch, author and journalist + Miriam Zeh, literary critic in conversation with Kristina Scepanski, Director Westfälischer Kunstverein
Location 1
Kunsthalle Münster
Hafenweg 28, 5. Stock, 48155 Münster
Tue – Sun 12 – 6 pm
Admission free
Location 2
LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur
Domplatz 10, 48143 Münster
Tue – Sun 10 am – 6 pm
On the 2nd Friday of the month 10 am – midnight (free admission from 6 pm)
13 EUR, 6,50 EUR reduced
Location 3
Westfälischer Kunstverein
Rothenburg 30, 48143 Münster
Tue – Sun 11 am – 7 pm
4 EUR, 2 EUR reduced
