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Saturday, October 5: Regular hours 10 am to 6 pm, ORF Long Night of Museums from 6 pm to midnight (only with Long Night of Museums ticket).




MUMOK PERSPEKTIVEN

AVANT-GARDE AND LIBERATION

A Choir of Many Voices

A Choir of Many Voices

For this project, Ümit Mares-Altinok has produced several texts with participants from the mumok Women’s Choir, which she founded in 2019. These pieces function as a powerful, emancipatory perspective on the works exhibited.


Ümit Mares-Altinok is a curator at the Wien Museum and has been Managing Director of kultur & gut Unternehmensberatung since 2013. As an academically trained migration manager and management consultant in the area of diversity, she has received awards such as the 2016 DiversCity Award from the Vienna Chamber of Commerce and the 2022 Look! Business Award.
 

perspective from

Ümit Mares-Altinok

I would like to say something about the "Avant-Garde and Liberation” exhibition on two levels: firstly, what I saw and secondly, how I perceived this exhibition.

 

I was very touched to see so many impressive works by artists from the so-called “Global South”. Finally, no Western-dominated Eurocentric presentation.

What are their views on issues such as racism, sexism or ecological challenges? How can a decolonized language succeed? What can the Western world learn from them?

 

Each work tells its own story. From abstract paintings to provocative installations and political posters - the exhibition covers a broad spectrum and shows how closely art and social change are interwoven.

However, visitors are intellectually challenged, as there is no common thread running through the exhibition.

 

And at a time when diversity and inclusion are becoming increasingly important in all areas, especially in the art world, the choice of curators unfortunately seems out of date. The perspectives represented in the exhibition may be limited by the fact that they are viewed through a specific, Western-influenced and privileged lens.

 

Decolonized and, above all, more comprehensible language is a continuous process of learning, questioning and adapting. Above all, it requires voice and sensitivity to ensure that language is inclusive, respectful and free from colonial power structures. Through these measures, we can help promote more equitable and respectful communication.

 

Nevertheless, I would highly recommend this exhibition because there are absolutely amazing objects on display that are touching and thought-provoking.

 

perspective from

Ildiko Nemes

The museum’s aim is to present  decolonial modernisms, in order to counteract the one-sided Western conditioning (not only) in modern art. Through the work of artists from the “Global South”, the exhibition  shows how they have been fighting against racism, exploitation and oppression for more than 30 years. Many of the exhibited works are being shown in Austria for the first time.

 

This is a very remarkable achievement. It is particularly important to show the history of Black women’s art, which is rarely  represented in museums. There are not only works on display that many of us classically regard as art, but also concepts, projects and achievements. For me, this means that the museum not only presents works of art, but also demonstrates with these works.

 

Some of these ideas are difficult for white, Western visitors to understand. But with this almost provocative presentation (e.g. Insectopia by Robert Gabris), we feel challenged to engage more intensively with the topic. Particularly meaningful for me is the work Clin d'oeil à Cheikh Anta Diop - Un continent à la recherche de son histoire by Omar Ba, which serves as an advertising poster for the exhibition, with the world map in the background and the African figures in the foreground. It emphasises the importance of the impact of African cultures on the world.

 

I also really liked the two monumental, magnificent works by Moffat Takadiwa, which were made from garbage such as toothbrushes and keyboards, which most probably come from all over the world. I think it's a great idea. It's provocative and beautiful at the same time.

 

It's a shame that the many black niches in which the films are shown are not so inviting. Overall, I think it's a successful exhibition. You go home with the feeling that you have broadened your perspective and that it really is time to counteract the one-sided Western conditioning in all facets of life.

perspective from

Petra Kirchdorfer

My first impression was that I didn't know what this exhibition was about. The title of the exhibition and the text on the folder were not immediately clear to me either. So I looked it up on the Internet. 
“Avant-Garde” are new pioneering developments, changes with a fundamental and long-term impact that lead to liberation? 


“Decolonial” questions colonial thought patterns that place Europe at the center and value it more highly, as well as supposedly universally valid truths.
To this end, alternative / different ways of relating to life and the world are placed at the center. 


On the one hand, modernism is a time period or a philosophical concept and also serves to differentiate the present from the past, which fits well with the term “contemporary art” and the Museum of Modern Art. 
I like what the art educator Lea says about some of the works. 


The large painting Clin d'oeil à Cheikh Anta Diop - Un continent à la recherche de son histoire by Omar Bar right by the entrance is painted on boxes that are lined up like a wall. The people were born in Africa and were all Black, they are depicted in a walking position, which in Egyptian depictions means that the person is alive.
I think you could add more boxes, just as new, living people have always been added and are still being added. There could also be something inside the boxes, as mementos are often kept in boxes.


black and white sculptures by Iman Issa such as Self-Portrait (Self as Doria Shafik) nearby are reminiscent of channeling and it occurs to me that perhaps culture is a channel to the past, where those who lived before us still have an effect on us. 
I like the fact that the artworks are made from different, sometimes unusual materials (garbage, adhesive tape, food). 
The exhibition is very large and extensive. 


When I go through it, it's far too much and I often have very little to do with most of the objects. It's better if I look at some of the objects with an art educator who explains them. 
Perhaps you could film the artists with their exhibited works and have them explain their work. 

 

perspective from

Rania Alhaddad

The title of the exhibition is very promising and made me curious about "decolonial modernism”. I liked the fact that the visitor was immediately greeted by the wonderful painting by Omar Ba, Clin d'oeil à Cheikh Anta Diop – Un continent à la recherche de son histoire, with its immense symbolism and beautiful colors. It was a promising start, I told myself. However, as I walked through the exhibition, my enthusiasm gradually waned.

 

Surely, it's great that we have an exhibition in Vienna about the history of colonialism. It's wonderful to show the works and perspectives of artists from former colonies. But I often have the feeling that something is missing from such exhibitions.

 

I can't help but feel that the subject is often presented from a “white” perspective through ”Black” works. I can't help but wonder whether this is meant seriously and whether it's just about “looking good”. I wonder why these particular artists and artworks were chosen. And above all: who chose the works and why? I often think about the message of the “white” curator and why it is almost ALWAYS a white curator. How can they present something so profound and complicated that they have never experienced themselves?

 

I couldn't find any answers to my questions in the exhibition, and I was a little disappointed that it was rather "plain”, plain in the European style! These artists come from very vibrant and colorful places. But maybe that's “modernity”, or maybe I just had too high expectations!

 

One thing I didn't like at all was the work Insectopia by Robert Gabris. It seemed out of context to me and I couldn't really appreciate it.