BARCELONA.- What is the current state of the European project? How did we get here, and where are we heading? Does the idea of Europe match the reality, or is there a gulf between the two? Are Europe’s leaders in harmony with its citizens? These are some of the questions that underpin Prophetia, a project that draws on contemporary art and theory to examine the construction of today’s Europe.
From 13 March to 7 June 2015,
Fundació Joan Miró presents this group exhibition curated by Imma Prieto (Barcelona, 1975), which brings together works by over twenty artists from different countries, generations, languages and sensibilities. The result is a space that invites visitors to reflect on the evolution of the European Union, with a particular emphasis on aspects that are making headlines now.
In the accompanying publication, seven short essays by the renowned historians, and philosophers Bojana Kunst, Ingrid Guardiola, Cécile Bourne-Farrell, José Luis Corazón Ardura, Srećko Horvat, and Piedad Solans further analyse the current situation.
The Greek term Prophetia refers to art’s visionary capacity to interpret reality on the symbolic plane. As Prieto explains, the exhibition “does not set out to look into the future [...], but to decide how we want to live in it, and to analyse aspects that reveal mistakes of the past and the present.”
The project is structured around three key concepts which are bound up with the philosophical and ideological foundations of Europe: abduction, correspondence and responsibility. The first is based on the classical myth of the Abduction of Europa, and is used as a metaphor for the hijacking of European ideals as a result of the economic, social and political crisis and the crisis of values that continue to rage. Through the idea of correspondence, Prophetia examines the dialogue between citizens and their representatives – between the collective project, its political management, and the reality that results. Lastly, the project introduces the concept of responsibility as an attitude and a tool with which to bridge these chasms. According to the curator, through their works, the artists and thinkers who come together in Prophetia wish to engage in shared acts of responsibility in the face of reality.
The underlying ideas that the project draws upon include the work of Czech philosopher Jan Patoćka (Turnov, 1907 - Prague, 1977), a phenomenologist and disciple of Husserl and Heidegger. Patoćka was one of the most influential ideologists of the civil resistance against communism, and one of the main spokespersons for the Charter 77 in favour of the recognition of human rights in Czechoslovakia. This 1977 manifesto encapsulates and illustrates the three core themes of the exhibition: it condemns the abduction of human rights; it points out the lack of correspondence between those who wield power and the will of the people; and it is an act of responsibility with regard to the community.
These same principles echo in the works assembled in the exhibition, which include video, photography, installations, sculpture and drawings by twenty-four artists: Eugenio Ampudia, Daniel G. Andújar, Kostas Bassanos, Filipa César, Jordi Colomer, A K Dolven, Jimmie Durham, Marco Fedele di Catrano, Jorge García, Chus GarcíaFraile, Goldschmied & Chiari, Núria Güell, Mateo Maté, Antoni Muntadas, Per Kristian Nygård, Renata Poljak, PSJM, Anri Sala, Avelino Sala, Peter Schrank, Luiz Simoes & Sabina Simon, Stefanos Tsivopoulos, Hannelore Van Dijck and Pelayo Varela.
