At MV Sci-art in Timișoara, the group exhibition AVOIDING MEMORIES, curated by Denise Parizek, opened. The exhibition presents works by artists from Austria, Romania, and Mexico. The exhibition focuses on memories and how they can shape the individual.
Artists: Guadalupe Aldrete, Mila Balzhieva, Paula Flores, Natalia Gurova, Hubert Hasler, Gabriel Virgilio Luciani, Isidora Krstic, Mihai Zgondoiu.
Describing the curatorial concept, Denise Parizek affirms: “Mariana Abramovic works out her trauma on her own body, and she went into the pain again and again until she literally hit the ground. Artists may be able to overcome trauma in this way, but the wounds are still there. Avoidance is one of the main strategies for dealing with the after-effects of trauma. Avoidance of memories. Avoiding the unintegrated fragments of the past that are triggered again and again. The debates about trauma, femicide, violence, climate crises, migration, wars, and global political and social tensions are overwhelming. They trigger new triggers. Together, we try to explore methods of avoidance based on different approaches and personal experiences; we question whether avoidance is the only solution and whether there are other scientific or medical tools to solve today‘s mental health problems.
In Monumental Cares (Manchester University Press 2023), Mechthild Widrich discusses artistic and activist interventions that show that a site- and person-centred engagement with history is important for a functioning, democratic public sphere and that we need to create new, participatory forms of art.
How can we reach a new level of discussion via art, in which the problems of today are presented and thematised in order to save us from fascist patriarchal backlashes and other global problems? In her ‘Story of a counter monument’, Patrizia Viola describes the idea of taking existing places/exhibitions out of context and reinterpreting and redesigning them through joint intervention. How can we give a living meaning to what reminds us of the trauma?”
With the support of the Austrian Cultural Forum.
