ACTS OF RESISTANCE: AN ANTHOLOGY

2020 will be marked as a year with significant shifts to social and political justice. Artists have consistently acted as commentators, critics and motivators in extraordinary circumstances. Artistic resistance presents itself in the refusal to accept or comply with injustices, documenting marginalised perspectives, and the ability to mobilise a critical mass to initiate change. From fighting against police brutality and racial injustice, to human rights violations in the Mediterranean, exploitation by corrupt government officials and the expansion of surveillance capitalism. The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst keeping the world in suspense. While in some areas it paved the way for right wing conspiracy theorists in others it seemed secondary to more pressing issues.

«Acts of Resistance: An Anthology» is the first virtual exhibition presented by the Goethe-Institut Sudan. 19 artists living in Sudan, Qatar, Germany and Switzerland showcase their collaborative work created in a six week transnational digital artist residency in the fall of 2020. Exploring new methodologies of conviviality, proximity and collectivity in and through the digital space, the creative process has in many ways called for the resistance to common practice, overcoming obstacles of digitality and spatial boundaries. Dedicated to different notions of artivism the exhibition centres on the artists’ lives and the current fast changing socio-political contexts they exist in.

From photography to paintings, installations, music and digital art, «Acts of Resistance: An Anthology» embodies an extraordinary collection, a witness of the transformative times we live in. The exhibition brings forth various theoretical questions, exploring the connections between politics and aesthetics, as well as how the artists relate themselves to politics and a variety of public discourses. While focusing mainly on the latest political uprisings in Sudan since 2018 and the ongoing socio-political shifts in Germany in the past years, it addresses personal narratives and alternative readings to the ongoing struggles of our societies.

With:
Azza Mohamed, Elmuontasir Elhassan, Horst Wegener, Julia Benz, Kunsthalle am Hamburger Platz, Mai Abusalih, Maimana Mohammed Elhassan Mohammed, Martin Poetter & Daniel Schreiber, N’golo Zerbo, Rana Marouf, Reem Aljeali, Sara Elhassan, The Urban Episode, Veronika Nepple, Zainab M. O. Gaafar

Project Management & Curation:
Idreesy Koum & Larissa-Diana Fuhrmann

Curatorial Assistance:
Laura Kloeckner

Residency Coordination:
Idreesy Koum & Laura Kloeckner

Virtual Experience Design:
Abdalsalam Alhaj

Exhibition Space Design:
Deer Designs & Rift Digital Lab

Documentation:
Abdalsalam Alhaj & Rhea Schmitt

Special Thanks to:
Art Kanoon Publishing House, Elmastaba TV, Lilli Kobler, The Urban Episode