Sculpture Project opens in Münster/Germany

Muenster Sculpture Project opens in Germany

MÜNSTER.- After almost three years of preparation, the fourth edition of Skulptur Projekte opened today in Münster. Thirty-six artists have been invited to realize thirty-four projects throughout the city. For the first time, the exhibition will focus more strongly on film and video, performative arts will play a key role, and the internet will serve as an expanded public platform, transporting artistic ideas beyond the urban context. Together with Brigitte Franzen, curator for contemporary art at the LWLLandesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, and Carina Plath, the director of the Westfälischer Kunstverein, the veteran curator Kasper König is heading this year's exhibition, skulptur projekte münster 07. This outstanding team has referred to Skulptur Projekte as a "long-term study" of how the artistic exploration of the public sphere - and how the public sphere itself - have changed over time.

Indeed, every ten years since 1977, Skulptur Projekte has examined the ambivalent relationship between art and the public space by commissioning site-specific works that respond to the urban context and encourage active public participation. With its unique approach to this important subject, Skulptur Projekte has gained worldwide renown as one of the premier major international exhibitions.

Among the many projects dealing with art in public space today, Münster is regarded as more than just a pioneer. It is widely seen as the only platform that has consistently addressed this topic over the past thirty years in a manner in keeping with the times. Considering that urban space is being increasingly monopolised by public and private interests - or has even been intentionally neglected - it appears all the more significant that thirty-six international artists have come to Münster to question these developments. "Today, public space in cities is overdetermined and "overdesigned" like never before; but there is also talk of a renaissance of cultural institutions and a new harmony between museums and contemporary art. The omnipresent 'buy me' and 'look at me' in the town centres means that artists today often take an undercover, critical approach to the situation, as well as to the expectations surrounding art in outdoor space," explains curator Brigitte Franzen.

Skulptur Projekte traces its origins back to a local squabble in 1977 concerning a
desirable plot of land within the city, which temporarily ended when George Rickey
donated a contemporary sculpture to the town and its residents. However, the
sculpture unleashed a storm of indignation and the conflict continued. "People were so upset that the local newspapers began to attack the whole notion of modern art. Klaus Bußmann, the curator of the LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte at the time and a spirited educator, felt he had to do something. It was necessary to enlighten people about the complex and not always popular history of modern sculpture, from Rodin up to the present. So the exhibition was first held in the museum. There was also an affiliated exhibition of free-standing sculptures in the Schlossgarten. Thus, Klaus Bußmann was the initiator, and he asked me to join in. That's how the project part, named Skulptur Projekte, evolved, leading to the first three exhibitions with Bußmann, and now to the fourth with the three of us," says Kasper König.

After thirty years of Skulptur Projekte, one can say that Münster is no longer just a
typical mid-sized German city where local flair mingles well with universal influences. The city can now look back on a successful track record of exhibitions spanning three decades. The thirty-nine sculptures that have found a permanent home in this urban environment bear witness to the history of Skulptur Projekte. For this year's participating artists, this represents a special situation to which they are bound to respond. As associate curator Carina Plath notes, "We can't act as if Münster were a place without Skulptur Projekte. The artists born in the 1960s and 1970s know about the specific character of the city - that Skulptur Projekte have been held here - and some of them make obvious reference to prior projects. It's no longer possible to imagine the city without art, which is why a number of this year's works allude to previous editions of the exhibition and its history rather than approaching Münster as a kind of playing field where anything goes."

As on previous occasions, the artists invited to take part in skulptur projekte münster 07 were asked to explore the city and its many different facets. The intense interactions with their surroundings and the conditions present at these locations are the reason for the unusually high quality and refreshing uniqueness of the artworks. With the Domplatz at the geographical centre of the exhibition, most of the projects are spread across the downtown area within the Promenadenring. Some of the projects are located in other parts of the city, beyond this central area - for instance at Lake Aa and next to the university's Institutes of Natural Science.