Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective

Die Ausstellung "Poetry & Performance" wurde von Tomáš Glanc und Sabine Hänsgen konzipiert und mit unterschiedlichen Kokurator:innen an unterschiedlichen Orten realisiert. Die erste Ausstellung wurde in Žilina (Nova synagoga) gezeigt, es folgten Stationen in Belgrad (Galerija Podroom), Zürich (Shedhalle), Dresden (Motorenhalle), Wrocław (Wroclaw Contemporary Museum MWW). 2020/21 wurde Poetry & Performance in Liberec (Lázně Galerie Liberec) und  in Budapest (Kassak Muzeum) zu sehen, ab November 2021 in Dnipro im (Dnipro Center for Contemporary Culture). Die Ausstellung erhielt den “Biela kocka” Award (“White Cube”), awarded by Rada galérií Slovenska) –– 1. prize in the category “independent project” 2018 for “Poetry&Performance. The Eastern European Perspective” in the New Synagogue Žilina. 

Zur Ausstellung wird ein Buch, eine Mischung aus Katalog und wissenschaftlichen Beiträgen zum Thema bei spector books in Leipzig auf Englisch veröffentlicht, das Buch erscheint 2022.

Die Ausstellung wurde innerhalb des von Sylvia Sasse geleiteten ERC Grant Performance Art in Eastern Europe: History & Theory (1950-1990) konzipiert und realisiert.

Am 17. Juni 2024 wurde im Museum der tschechischen Literatur (Muzeum literatury) in Prag eine neue Version der Ausstellung, kuratiert von Tomáš Glanc und Sabine Hänsgen, eröffnet. Die Ausstellung kann bis zum 31. Oktober 2024 besichtigt werden.

In Eastern Europe, we can observe peculiar sensitivity both to the power of language and its fragility and vulnerability, which has been developing over many decades. In the second half of the twentieth century, poets and visual artists in Eastern Europe in particular took up the challenge of reflecting on and investigating the instrumentalization of language for communicative and political-ideological purposes. They did so by drawing attention to the made-ness of language, its materiality and mediality, and by creating performative situations for themselves and their audiences within which possibilities of verbal expression could be tested and acted out. Poetic performance makes the limits of language and speakability tangible.

In the socialist states of Eastern Europe, with all of their differences, poetry and performance are characterized by a double subculturality: on the one hand, they undermine the conventional perception of script and words as neutral means, which, on the other hand, was unacceptable against the cultural-political backdrop, forcing them into the unofficial or partially tolerated cultural scene. The exhibition Poetry and Performance. The Eastern European Perspective evokes subversive artistic attitudes directed against authoritarian regimes of the past yet it also applies to contemporary political rhetoric: the manipulation of, with and through language. Now and then, poetry and performance take on an exceptional significance in periods of socio-political crises, as these ephemeral and flexible art forms enable the reflection on relations and contexts that remain otherwise undiscussed. Currently, it is also essential to pay attention to the changes of the language and the character of relations with text and words up against new technology, as well as notice a shift towards emotions. For a young generation, poetry and performance are no longer just a weapon to fight the system, but a tool for exploring their own experiences or identities of various kinds.

The show is composed of unique and coexisting exhibits: text scores, interactive objects, sound and video recordings, films and installations of performance documentation. Together, they present artists from subcultures in socialist states along with contemporary positions that continue the legacy of combining poetry and performance, showing the efforts of poets and artists to break free from controlled language and the normative communicative here and now.

The presentation of the exhibition in a place of performative and poetic actions as renowned as Wrocław requires emphasizing the local background. The facade of Wrocław Contemporary Museum with Stanisław Dróżdż’s hourglass of words, meaningfully located in a post-German air shelter, is articulated even stronger in this context. The fragility of language meets the power of materiality of words, visible and always present.

Žilina: 22.12. 2017 – 10.3. 2018
kuratiert von Tomáš Glanc, Daniel Grúň, Sabine Hänsgen in New Synagogue, Žilina / Slovakia

Artists: Milan Adamčiak, Pavel Arsenev, Babi Badalov, Bosch+Bosch (Attila Csernik, Slavko Matković, László Szalma), Collective Actions Group, Ľubomír Ďurček, Else Gabriel / Via Lewandowsky, Rimma Gerlovina, Tomislav Gotovac, Group of Six Artists, Bohumila Grögerová / Josef Hiršal, Gino Hahnemann, Václav Havel, Jörg Herold, Semyon Khanin (Orbita), Príbuzenstvo Moho (Zuzana Jasenková, Kristína Országhová, Magdaléna Scheryová), Dávid Koronczi, Katalin Ladik, Yuri Leiderman / Andrey Silvestrov, Vlado Martek, Andrei Monastyrski, Monogramista T.D, Ladislav Novák, Pavel Novotný, NSRD (Hardijs Lediņš, Juris Boiko, Imants Žodžiks), OHO Group (Nuša & Srečo Dragan, Naško Križnar), Boris Ondreička, Orange Alternative, Roman Osminkin, Ewa Partum, Bogdanka Poznanović, Dmitri Prigov, Lev Rubinstein, Nóra Ružičková / Marianna Mlynárčiková, Mladen Stilinović, Gabriele Stötzer, Tamás Szentjóby, Bálint Szombathy, Raša Todosijević, Jaromír Typlt, Jiří Valoch.

Exhibition architecture: Matej Gavula, Graphic design: studio ONAONAONA, Production: Zlatka Borůvková, Ján Gašparovič, Dušan Dobiaš

Belgrad: 8.3. 2017 – 29.3. 2018
kuratiert von Tomáš Glanc, Sabine Hänsgen and Dubravka Đurić in Gallery Podroom, Cultural  Center of Belgrade / Serbia

Artists: Katalin Ladik, Vujice Rešina Tucića, OHO, BOSCH+BOSCH, KOD, Dimitrija Pirgova, Lava Rubinštajna, Eugena Gomringera, Eve Partum, Andreja Monastirskog, Vaclava Havela, Ladislava Novaka, Vije Levandovskog, Else Gabrijel, Gina Hanemana, Atile Černika, Francija Zagoričnika.

Exhibition installation: Katarina Kostandinović

Zürich, 16.09.–28.10.2018
Shedhalle Zürich, kuratiert von Tomáš Glanc und Sabine Hänsgen.
In Zusammenarbeit mit: Dubravka Djurić, Daniel Grúň, Emese Kürti, Claus Löser, Pavel Novotný, Branka Stipančić, Darko Šimičić, Māra Traumane

Milan Adamčiak, Pavel Arsenev, Damir Avdić, Babi Badalov, Bosch+Bosch (Attila Csernik, Slavko Matković, László Szalma), Collective Actions Group, Ľubomír Ďurček, Else Gabriel / Via Lewandowsky, Rimma Gerlovina, Tomislav Gotovac, Group of Six Artists, Bohumila Grögerová / Josef Hiršal, Gino Hahnemann, Tibor Hajas, Václav Havel, Jörg Herold, Semyon Khanin (Orbita), Vladimir Kopicl, Dávid Koronczi, Katalin Ladik, Yuri Leiderman / Andrey Silvestrov, Vlado Martek, Kirill Medvedev, Jan Měřička, Andrei Monastyrski, Ladislav Novák, Pavel Novotný, NSRD (Hardijs Lediņš, Juris Boiko, Imants Žodžiks), OHO Group (Nuša & Srečo Dragan, Naško Križnar), Orange Alternative, Roman Osminkin, Ewa Partum, Bogdanka Poznanović, Dmitri Prigov, Pussy Riot, Lev Rubinstein, Mladen Stilinović, Gabriele Stötzer, Tamás Szentjóby, Bálint Szombathy, Slobodan Tišma, Dezider Tóth (Monogramista T.D), Raša Todosijević, Jaromír Typlt, Jiří Valoch.

Ausstellungsarchitektur: RCNKSK Architekti – Filip Kosek, Jan Říčný
Ausstellungsdesign / Grafik Design: Breisky
Installation: Tomáš Černý, Herrmann & Coufal, Mojmír Veselka

Dresden 12.4.–7.7.2019,  Motorenhalle

Kurator*innen Tomáš Glanc, Sabine Hänsgen, in Zusammenarbeit mit Dubravka Ðurić, Daniel Grúň, Emese Kürti, Claus Löser, Pavel Novotný, Branka Stipančić, Darko Šimičić, Māra Traumane

Begleitprogramm Denise Ackermann, Frank Eckhardt, Tomáš Glanc, Sabine Hänsgen

Künstler:innen:

Künstler*innen Milan Adamčiak Akademia Ruchu, Nikita Alekseev, Gábor Altorjay, Pavel Arsenev, Damir Avdić, Babi Badalov, Bosch+ Bosch (Attila Csernik, Slavko Matković, László Szalma), Collective Actions Group, Coro Collective, Ľubomír Ďurček, Else Gabriel / Via Lewandowsky, Rimma Gerlovina, Jelena Glazova, Tomislav Gotovac, Group of Six Artists, Bohumila Grögerová / Josef Hiršal, Gino Hahnemann, Tibor Hajas, Václav Havel, Jörg Herold, Semyon Khanin (Orbita), Vladimir Kopicl, Dávid Koronczi, Katalin Ladik, Yuri Leiderman / Andrey Silvestrov, Via Lewandowsky/ Durs Grünbein, Vlado Martek, Kirill Medvedev, Jan Měřička, Andrei Monastyrski, Ladislav Novák, Pavel Novotný, NSRD (Hardijs Lediņš, Juris Boiko, Imants Žodžiks), OHO Group (Nuša & Srečo Dragan, Naško Križnar), Orange Alternative, Roman Osminkin, Ewa Partum, Bogdanka Poznanović, Dmitri Prigov , Pussy Riot, Lev Rubinstein, Mladen Stilinović, Gabriele Stötzer, Tamás Szentjóby, Bálint Szombathy, Slobodan Tišma, Dezider Tóth (Monogramista T.D), Raša Todosijević, Jaromír Typlt, Jiří Valoch.

Wrocław, 27.3.2020–13.7.2020
Wroclaw Contemporary Museum MWW

Kuratiert von Tomáš Glanc, Sabine Hänsgen, Agata Ciastoń, in Zusammenarbeit mit: Dubravka Ðurić, Daniel Grúň, Emese Kürti, Claus Löser, Pavel Novotný, Branka Stipančić, Darko Šimičić, Māra Traumane.

Exhibition arrangement: Hubert Kielan.

Artists: Academy of Movement, Nikita Alekseev, Gábor Altorjay, Pavel Arsenev, Damir Avdić, Wojciech Bąkowski, Bosch+Bosch (Attila Csernik, Slavko Matković, László Szalma), Collective Actions Group, Ľubomír Ďurček, Exterra XX, Else Gabriel, Dorota Gawęda / Eglė Kulbokaitė (Young Girl Reading Group), Rimma Gerlovina, Jelena Glazova, Tomislav Gotovac, Group of Six Artists, Bohumila Grögerová / Josef Hiršal, Durs Grünbein, Gino Hahnemann, Tibor Hajas, Jörg Herold, Vladimir Kopicl, Jiří Kolář, Dávid Koronczi, Barbara Kozłowska, Romuald Kutera, Katalin Ladik, Yuri Leiderman / Andrey Silvestrov, Via Lewandowsky, Vlado Martek, Kirill Medvedev, Jan Měřička, Andrei Monastyrski, Ladislav Novák, Pavel Novotný, NSRD (Hardijs Lediņš, Juris Boiko, Imants Žodžiks), OHO Group (Nuša & Srečo Dragan, Naško Križnar), Paulina Ołowska, Orange Alternative, Roman Osminkin, Andrzej Partum, Ewa Partum, Liliana Piskorska, Agnieszka Polska, Bogdanka Poznanović, Dmitri Prigov, Pussy Riot, Lev Rubinstein, Gerhard Rühm, Mladen Stilinović, Gabriele Stötzer,  Tamás Szentjóby, Bálint Szombathy, Slobodan Tišma, Raša Todosijević, Dezider Tóth (Monogramista T.D), Jaromír Typlt, Jiří Valoch, Honza Zamojski.

17.12.2020-18.5.2021 

Ausstellungsort: Lázně, Oblastní galerie Liberec. Místo konání Bazénová hala, ochoz Výstava (Lázně, Galerie Liberec, Halle unter dem Schwimmbecken)

Kuratiert von Tomáš Glanc, Sabine Hänsgen, Pavel Novotný

Künstler:innen:

Akademia Ruchu, Nikita Alekseev, Gábor Altorjay, Pavel Arsenev, Damir Avdić, Babi Badalov, Bosch+ Bosch (Attila Csernik, Slavko Matković, László Szalma, Imre Póth ), Bu-Ba-Bu (Yuri Andrukhovych, Oleksandr Irvanets', Viktor Neborak), Collective Actions Group, Ľubomír Ďurček, Exterra XX, Else Gabriel, Dorota Gawęda a Eglė Kulbokaitė (Young Girl Reading Group), Rimma Gerlovina, Jelena Glazova, Tomislav Gotovac, Group of Six Artists (Boris Demur, Željko Jerman, Vlado Martek, Mladen Stilinović, Sven Stilinović, Fedor Vučemilović), Bohumila Grögerová / Josef Hiršal , Durs Grünbein, Gino Hahnemann, Tibor Hajas, Václav Havel, Jörg Herold, Jiří Kolář, Vladimir Kopicl, Dávid Koronczi, Verena Kyselka, Katalin Ladik, Yuri Leiderman / Andrey Silvestrov, Via Lewandowsky, Vlado Martek, Kirill Medvedev, Jan Měřička, Andrei Monastyrski, Ladislav Novák, Pavel Novotný, NSRD (Hardijs Lediņš, Juris Boiko, Imants Žodžiks), OHO Group (Nuša & Srečo Dragan, Naško Križnar),  Orange Alternative, Orbita (Semyon Khanin , Artur Punte, Vladimir Svetlov), Roman Osminkin, Ewa Partum, Bogdanka Poznanović, Dmitri Prigov, Pussy Riot, Lev Rubinstein, Gerhard Rühm, Mladen Stilinović, Gabriele Stötzer, Tamás Szentjóby, Bálint Szombathy, Slobodan Tišma, Dezider Tóth (Monogramista T.D), Raša Todosijević, Jaromír Typlt, Jiří Valoch

24.6.2021-17.10.2021 

 Kassák Múzeum in Budapest. 

Exhibition curators: Tomáš Glanc, Sabine Hänsgen, Emese Kürti

Exhibiting artists: Gábor Altorjay (HU); Henri Chopin (F); Collective Actions Group (Kollektyivnije gyejsztvija) (RU); Attila Csernik (SRB); Tomislav Gotovac (HR); Bohumila Grögerová (CZ); Josef Hiršal (CZ); Katalin Ladik (SRB–HU); Vlado Martek (HR); Kirill Medvegyev  (RU); Jan Měřička (CZ); Andrej Monasztirszkij  (RU); Monogramista T.D Dezider Tóth (SK–CZ); Ladislav Novák (CZ); Pavel Novotný (CZ); Organge Alternative/Pomarańczowa Alternatywa (PL); Ewa Partum (PL); Dmitrij Prigov (RU); Pussy Riot (RU); Lev Rubinstein (RU); Gerhard Rühm (A/D); Mladen Stilinović (HR); Gabriele Stötzer (D); Tamás Szenytyóby (HU); Bálint Szombathy (HU); Raša Todosijević (SRB); Jaromír Typlt (CZ); Jiří Valoch (CZ); Young Girl Reading Group (Dorota Gawęda, Eglė Kulbokaitė (PL–LV)    

Projektleader: Edit Sasvári
Projektassistant: Zsófia Márton
Installation: RCNKSK architekti: Filip Kosek, Jan Říčný, Petr Müller, Erika Trang Nguyen Thu
Graphic design: Endre Koronczi

25.11.2021-12.02.2022 

Kultura Medialna in Dnipro. 

Exhibition curators: Sabine Hänsgen und Tomáš Glanc, Yuri Birte Anderson, Kateryna Rusetska. In cooperation with Yaroslav Futymskyi.

Exhibiting artists: Milan Adamčiak, Akademia Ruchu, Nikita Alekseev, Gábor Altorjay, Pavel Arsenev, Damir Avdić, Bosch+ Bosch (Attila Csernik Slavko Matković László Szalma), Collective Actions Group, Coro Collective, Ľubomír Ďurček, Exterra XX, Else Gabriel/ Via Lewandowsky, Rimma Gerlovina, Jelena Glazova, Tomislav Gotovac, Group of Six Artists/ Grupa šestorice autora (Boris Demur, Željko Jerman, Vlado Martek, Mladen Stilinović, Sven Stilinović, Fedor Vučemilović), Bohumila Grögerová / Josef Hiršal, Gino Hahnemann, Tibor Hajas, Václav Havel, Jörg Herold, Semyon Khanin (Orbita), Vladimir Kopicl, Dávid Koronczi, Katalin Ladik,
Yuri Leiderman/ Andrey Silvestrov, Via Lewandowsky/ Durs Grünbein, Vlado Martek, Kirill Medvedev, Jan Měřička, Andrei Monastyrski, Ladislav Novák, Pavel Novotný, NSRD – Workshop for the Restoration of Unfelt Feelings/ Nebijušu Sajūtu Restaurēšanas Darbnīca (Hardijs Lediņš, Juris Boiko, Imants Žodžiks), OHO Group (Nuša & Srečo Dragan Naško Križnar), Orange Alternative, Roman Osminkin, Ewa Partum, Bogdanka Poznanović, Dmitri Prigov, Pussy Riot, Lev Rubinstein, Mladen Stilinović, Gabriele Stötzer, Tamás Szentjóby, Bálint Szombathy, Slobodan Tišma, Dezider Tóth (Monogramista T.D), Raša Todosijević, Jaromír Typlt, Jiří Valoch
Liberec Radio Studio, Henri Chopin, Gerhard Rühm, Jiří Kolář, Bálint Szombathy, Tesla Sonet, Duo Laszlo Szalma, Young Girl Reading Group (Dorota Gawęda i Eglė Kulbokaitė), Stanislav Turina, Ksenia Hnylytska, Lubomyr Tymkiv, Petro Ryaska, Dana Kavelina, Anita Nemet, Yaroslav Futymskyi, Yuriy Sokolov, Nikolay Karabinovych, Leonid Voytsehov, Vlodko Kaufman, Fedir Tetianych, LuHoSad,
Bu-Ba-Bu, group Abstract Finger, Vasyl Lozynsky.

18.06.2024-31.10.2024

Muzeum literatury in Prag. 

Exhibition curators: Tomáš Glanc, Sabine Hänsgen and a team of collaborators: Agata Ciastoń, Dubravka Ðurić, Daniel Grúň, Iryna Herasimovich, Emese Kürti, Claus Löser, Pavel Novotný, Kateryna Rusetska/Yuri Birte Anderson, Branka Stipančić, Darko Šimičić and Māra Traumane.

Exhibiting artists: Milan Adamčiak, Akademia Ruchu, Nikita Alekseev, Gábor Altorjay, Pavel Arsenev [Laboratory of Poetry Actionism], Damir Avdić, Babi Badalov, Bosch+ Bosch [Attila Csernik, Slavko Matković, László Szalma, Imre Póth], Bu-Ba-Bu [Jurij Andruchovyč, Oleksandr Irvaněc, Viktor Něborak] Bum-Bam-Lit CORO Collective Nuša a Srečo Dragan [OHO group] Ľubomír Ďurček Else Gabriel Epos 257 a Vladimir 518 Dorota Gawęda a Eglė Kulbokaitė [Young Girl Reading Group] Rimma Gerlovina Jelena Glazova Tomislav Gotovac Bohumila Grögerová / Josef Hiršal Durs Grünbein Grupa šestorice autora [Boris Demur, Željko Jerman, Vlado Martek, Mladen Stilinović, Sven Stilinović, Fedor Vučemilović] Michail Gulin László Gyémánt Gino Hahnemann Tibor Hajas Raoul Hausmann Jörg Herold Henri Chopin Nikolaj Karabinovič Jiří Kolář Kollektivnyje dějstvija Vladimir Kopicl Naško Križnar [OHO Group] Verena Kyselka Katalin Ladik Jurij Leiderman / Andrej Siĺvestrov Via Lewandowsky Vlado Martek Kirill Medveděv Jan Měřička Andrej Monastyrskij Monogramista T. D. Ladislav Novák Pavel Novotný NSRD [Hardijs Lediņš, Juris Boiko, Imants Žodžiks] Orbita [Semjon Chanin, Artur Punte, Vladimir Svetlov, Sergej Timofejev] Roman Osminkin Ewa Partum Pomarańczowa Alternatywa Imre Póth Bogdanka Poznanović Dmitrij Prigov Pussy Riot Lev Rubinštejn Gerhard Rühm Mladen Stilinović Gabriele Stötzer Lászlo Szalma Tamás Szentjóby Fedir Tetjanyč Slobodan Tišma Raša Todosijević Jaromír Typlt Jiří Valoch Leonid Vojcechov

The exhibition: Prague hosts from 17 June 2024 the ninth "edition" of the extensive research exhibition we have called "Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective".
Dozens of videos, fragile scores from the underground, audio recordings and photo documentation, as well as unique objects will present the experimental activities of more than 50 artists and groups from ten European countries. The exhibition has so far been visited in different versions by audiences in 8 European countries, from Switzerland and Germany to Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia and Ukraine. In Prague, the exhibition is hosted by the Museum of Literature, specifically the spectacular Renaissance summer palace Hvězda, whose aura was admired by astrologists as well as André Breton.
The exhibition is the most extensive of all the previous realisations, with a number of new exhibits from Ukraine, Belarus – and of course with works by Czech artists of the neo-avant-garde and contemporary art, whose work combines poetry and performance.