Petra Bauer - Sisters! and other films

Artist and filmmaker Petra Bauer explores our political, cultural and social traditions, often focusing on the role played by gender, ethnicity and class in our modern-day society. Bauer questions power structures – the powerful and the powerless – in ordinary everyday situations. She asks questions we prefer not to ask, let alone answer. She explores the medium of film as a place for tackling political and social issues.

“In my work I explore the possibilities of conceptual documentary. I examine how public stories which exist in and about our society are constructed, presented and represented in mass media. I always start with a private event and then I investigate how it relates and connects with general occurrences in society. It is specifically the relation between the private event and public history that I am interested in.”

Bauer will present several works including the film Sisters! (2011) and the recently produced work Choreography for the Giants (2013). In this new work Petra Bauer looks at the procession known as the Mechelen Ommegang (or Cavalcade), a world heritage event which only takes place every 25 (twenty-five) years. The last time was in 1988, since then Belgium society has undergone many changes. The artist concentrates on the production process of this edition of the Ommegang (2013). Choreography for the Giants consists of a publication that traces that process with particular critical attention paid to the way the organizers have tried to represent the whole of Mechelen society in the Ommegang. Bauer is also presenting a video installation about the procession, made in collaboration with Marius Dybwad Brandrud. Choreography for the Giants is produced by Contour 2013 and the book is co-produced by Point.

Petra Bauer’s (b. 1970, Sweden) work has been exhibited internationally, including exhibitions at institutions such as Van Abbe Museum Amsterdam, Bard College Annandale-on-Hudson New York, Frankfurter Kunstverein, CAC Vilnius, Kunsthalle Nurnberg, Stadtgalerie Kiel, Casino Luxemburg and Tallinn Art Hall.

Jacob Fabricius (b. 1970, Denmark) is currently the director of Kunsthal Charlottenborg. He was the director of Malmö Konsthall from 2008 until 2013, where he curated a large number of exhibitions. Fabricius does not limit himself to the institution space and has, as a director, initiated innovative public exhibitions such as the hitchhiking exhibition Auto Stop (2008) and Polis Polis Potatismos (2010). Fabricius is also the founder of the publishing company Pork Salad Press and the newspaper project Old News. He has published more than 50 books, records and CDs.

Opening on Thursday 15 May 2014 at 19:00
At 19:30 talk by Jacob Fabricius "Film as a political practice"

Opening Hours
Tuesday to Friday: 11:00 -18:00
Saturday: 11:00-15:00

*the exhibition can also be viewed by appointment outside opening hours