Das Lied von der Erde - Biennalen im Dialog
Exhibition    10th June - 3rd October 2000
International Conference  3rd - 6th August 2000

Deutsche Version
Konferenz deutsch
conference english


The progressive process of globalization is sharpening our awareness of cultural distinction and identity while, at the same time, requiring greater dialogue between the cultures themselves. Traditionally, artists have always been among the chief protagonists in the international exchange of ideas, as evidenced by the numerous biennials of contemporary art which have become established world-wide. Among them, those biennials which developed outside the established western-influenced artistic world transformed the peripheries into centres of their own modern art - a shift in vantage-points which has opened up perspectives. To date no one has dared attempt to bring together these perspectives or to network these various large-scale exhibitions. For the first time, the Museum Fridericianum Kassel is now planning to foster such a dialogue between some of the world's leading biennials: Sydney, Johannesburg, Istanbul, Havana, Pittsburgh, Sao Paulo, Kwangju and Lyons.

The dialogue project is divided into two elements: exhibition and conference.

For the exhibition, the different artistic positions will serve as moments of communication. Asia, Australia, Africa and Latin America as well as North America and Europe will be represented by those places which - hitherto in isolation - have striven to engage in a global dialogue on contemporary art. Distinguished by its workshop character, the exhibition form of the "biennial" facilitates co-operation and communication between the artistic representatives of the various cultures and traditions. It is their physical presence in situ which allows these artists to become protagonists of a globe-spanning dialogue which goes beyond contemporary art.

The international conference affiliated to the exhibition will expand the spectrum of this dialogue. Curators, artists and responsible institutions, including those not represented in the exhibition, will embark upon an exchange of ideas in which their respective concerns and functions can be compared and analysed. By means of lectures and discussion forums, the conference will also endeavour to attract interested members of the general public.

As the international voices of contemporary art now strike up together, a century after Gustav Mahler's period in Kassel, a new "Song of the Earth" will emerge - in the form of an exhibition and conference project staged in the Museum Fridericianum, the headquarters of the Kassel documenta.

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