Modes of Democracy
The question of identification and modern democratic basics
The exhibition “Modes of Democracy”, at DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, in Prague, deals with the national and global ideas of the term “democracy”, contextualised against the backgrounds of individual artists, and the influences on them of geography and their own cultural backgrounds. The selection of over 30 artists and their individual works focuses on identifying and interpreting different types of regime in Europe, varying in scale from federal states or cities down to smaller units, such as villages or local neighbourhoods. Viewing things in these different perspectives, the visitor to the exhibition arrives at a better understanding of various forms of ‘trans-national democracy’.
- Department for Public Appearances, Easy Vote, 2006
The eight main sections show examples of globalised artists and works of art from areas as far afield as South America and Asia, in addition to Europe, as a whole. Most of the works are examples chosen from the areas of performance and public art and activism, rather than objects produced in a studio.
Under the title, “Breathing the Sudetenland: Ústí nad Labem”, the “Department for Public Appearances” deals critically with social issued within the framework of relevant themes in regional politics. In their work, “Easy Vote (2006)”, for instance, members of the group invited representatives of the post-socialistic population in Ústí nad Labem (North-Bohemia, CZ), to vote on the question: “Are you concerned more with your job or your physical health, when it comes to deciding on the future of the chemical factories close to the city centre?”. To this end, they created three voting corridors in the underpass between the city hall and the main station. People were then invited to use one of these corridors, as a means of registering their vote for one of the three options (for, against, or abstention) relating to the future of these plants, which were large employers, but also represented a potential health hazard. An interesting aspect of this was the pressure applied on the organisers by the “Spolchemie” chemicals factory itself, before they could get down to counting the votes. Ironically, the majority of citizens eventually voted by a margin of some 4% in favour of jobs over health concerns! This participatory project had the advantage of demonstrating the privilege that people enjoyed, of being able to exercise their democratic rights through the ballot box. It also showed how important it was, to create “Islands of Discussions”, as they were described by one of the artists, Peter Boerboom. In the end, formulating the concept of the project itself turned out to have been the truest expression of the “Department of Public Appearances’’ own collective artistic aims.
- Julia Frank, SüdWestNordOst, 2012
Another basic aspect, in relation to a democratic regime, is the use of common verbal communication tools, as an aid to understanding. This is a difficult issue, when it comes to the three official languages (Italian, German and Ladin) of the autonomous region of South Tirol/Alto Adige, in Northern Italy. In contrast to the cultural and lingual variety that is to be found in the cities, the population of the countryside tends to be conservative and mono-political. Haimo Perkmann, the curator of this part of the exhibition relating to the South Tyrol, described the status quo, as follows: “The special ethnic situation is that it has one party – it is a democratically elected party, but a one party regime - with one church, and only one newspaper. A concentration of power like this is unusual, since things are mostly more democratic in other parts of Europe.’ But most of the artists in South Tyrol do not deal with any political issue, because in regions like this the political topics are always hijacked by the right wing. Against this kind of background, artists often try not to get involved, and often prefer to develop their careers at an international level. In the exhibition, it is possible to see works by artists from the region dealing with these problems at a symbolic level, in a way that reflects their own critical approach. A video work by Julia Frank, “D+I+L (2013)”, consists of three video projections of interviews conducted in the three official languages of the region. Viewers looking at the videos can immediately understand their visual dimension, while the simultaneous transmission of the audio content of the three interviews makes it impossible for them to understand the background: “The work illustrates the socially self-referential situation and inward-looking tendencies of this multicultural region, and in particular the fact that the three linguistic communities living in South Tyrol pursue the same goals, but still remain divided.” (Julia Frank)
- Gabriela Oberkofler, Jedes Abendrot ist ein Gebet (Every Sunset is a Prayer), 2006
The only way to see things in this critical perspective is to distance oneself from one’s own roots and national and personal history, from time to time. Considerations such as this provided the background for another artist from the South Tyrol, Gabriela Oberkofler.
Oberkofler used a montage technique, to enlist the star performer in a well-known regional folk band, the “Kastelruther Spatzen” (The Kastelruth Sparrows) in her video-work, “Jedes Abendrot ist ein Gebet” (Every Sunset is a Prayer, 2006). Here, she dealt with some of the stereotypes and clichés of her region and in Alpine folk music, in general, in a humorous, rather than sarcastic way. “Living abroad can lead to a totally new take on things you might normally take for granted’ (Gabriela Oberkofler).
- Nicoló Degiorgis, Hidden Islam, 2009-2011
- Haimo Perkman (left), Opening of "Modes of Democracy"
In his work, “Hidden Islam”, Nicoló Degiorgis deals with the issue of the different ethnic groups in the south Tyrol, where he grew up, by looking at the demographic changes that he detects in the conversion of a former factory into a prayer room for the Islamic community. As he put it, this work“(…) draws a frightening picture of contemporary Italy – a country with a limited colonial background that finds it hard to absorb a quickly rising wave of immigration”. Thus, we can see how cultural borders merge and overlap within the overall framework of national borders. This crossing of boundaries is not only a national phenomenon, but a global one. Many aspects of these works, set against a national background, reveal long-term complexities that also have an international relevance. Sometimes it is also quite surprising (or even shocking) to discover the similarities between situations in different parts of the world. But this may be a signal to take a stand for transnational and democratic standards, worldwide. Sometimes one just has to think about the framework and the different ways of discussing these kinds of important and serious matters. Maybe, art has the power to discuss such issues in a humorous way, like Haimo Perkmann in the following anecdote: “In the summer, I was on a high mountain on an Alm and there came a Vietnamese girl in a Dirndl, who asked ‘Na Burschen, was kann i euch bringen?’ (in Bavarian dialect: ‘Hey guys, what can I serve you?’), so it was fun - it is fun - to have these people.”
A foreigner is only a foreigner in a foreign land. (Karl Valentin)
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Don’t miss the artists:
Gabriela Oberkofler:
Nicoló Degiorgis:
http://www.nicolodegiorgis.com/
Julia Frank:
http://frank-julia.com/2012/11/26/sudwestnordost/
Department for Public Appearances:
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