The Tanzwelten exhibition at the Bundeskunsthalle Bonn sheds light on dance as a global form of performance and expression and presents a concept that transcends time and space and incorporates many forms of dance. The exhibition will be on display from September 27, 2024 to February 16, 2025.
Image above: Photo: Peter Oszvald, Bernd Lammel, 2020 © Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland GmbH
One theory on the origins of dance is that it was initially a means of communication. Whether developed from movements at work or as a reaction to natural phenomena, dance has always described human interactions.
Even in the earliest cultures, dancing was an important part of rituals, ceremonies, festivals and entertainment. It may also have played a central role in the transmission of stories before they were written down. In many parts of the world, dancing is strongly rooted in the community and creates a sense of belonging.
The exhibition presents dance as a global form of representation and expression and tells multi-perspective stories of the interweaving of dance in its social functions and its role as an art form. In thematically structured chapters, it looks at the multitude of different manifestations and styles and illuminates dance as an essential part of our existence.
The central chapter Dancing Together, which presents dance as a collective experience and addresses its socio-cultural functions, develops into four major sections: Imagining Dances, Telling Stories, On:Breaks and Show Time! They shed light on the ritual, spiritual, political, identity-forming and entertaining functions of dance, blurring the boundaries between everyday and high culture. In the chapter Dancing together, classical ballet is presented as a storyteller as well as the narrative dances of the African continent and various forms of dance theater. Imagining Dances explores examples of spiritual and art-philosophical dance worlds and sheds light on the topic of appropriation and cultural transfer. Dancing as an expression of protest and resistance and as a counter-movement is the subject of the chapter On:Breaks and the section Show Time! sheds light on the entertaining aspects.
As dance rarely stands alone, the exhibition also looks at its diverse connections to other art forms. The exhibits range from artifacts depicting dance in early cultures to modern visual art and examples of contemporary dance.
Bettina WitteVeen is represented in the exhibition with her work Götterfunken. The poetic film interweaves ritual dance sequences, which the artist recorded on location over the course of a decade on her travels in Indonesia, Cambodia, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Cuba and on a Lakota reservation in the United States of America, with abstract film images. Even though the individual sequences draw on a wide variety of ethnographic sources, the film’s narrative reveals an overarching unity that WitteVeen describes as the “cosmic dance of life” in which we are all connected.
Bettina WitteVeen (*1958) is a German-born, New York-based artist and activist. Her interest in history and the philosophy of law as well as her commitment to pacifism and justice form the conceptual basis of her art. Her photographs and films have been shown in large-scale installations at historically significant sites that were once marked by violence, destruction and war. In unique walk-in experiential spaces, she opened doors for reflection, dialog and empathy, encouraging viewers to confront painful memories and contribute to collective healing processes. She also uses the power of storytelling to capture the cultures of indigenous peoples in different regions of the world.
Curators: Katharina Chrubasik, Daniela Ebert, Claudia Jeschke
WHEN?
Opening: Thursday, September 26, 2024, 7 pm
Exhibition dates: Friday, September 27, 2024 – Sunday, February 16, 2025
Opening hours: Wednesday, 10 am – 9 pm, Tuesday, Thursday – Sunday, 10 am – 7 pm
WHERE?
Bundeskunsthalle
Museumsmeile Bonn
Helmut-Kohl-Allee 4
53113 Bonn
