English /
The guest at the first episode in the new season is Renzo Martens. His pseudo-documentary films use strategies of performance and satire to pose fundamental questions about the way journalism and media function in terms of how we deal with the so-called “Third World.” His film, “Episode 3–Enjoy Poverty,” which was made in 2008 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, presents a sharp polemic against artistic projects with a humanitarian claim, which seek out social ills in crisis areas without sufficiently reflecting on who is actually profiting from them.
In the framework of “Phantasma und Politik,” the Dutch artist will give a presentation of the Institute for Human Activities, which was founded last year. The organisation, with offices in Kinshasa, Brussels, and Amsterdam, aims to illuminate the critical mandate of art in relation to its assumptions and complicities. The idea of the institute is to instigate a process of gentrification in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, which will be introduced by artistic training programmes. It is meant to support people in the area in their capacity to act for themselves and to participate in the global circulation of cultural and financial capital.
Following the presentation, Renzo Martens will engage in discussion with the art theorist Sabeth Buchmann and with Helmut Draxler.
Photo: Marcus Lieberenz
Gefördert aus Mitteln des Hauptstadtkulturfonds. Mit freundlicher Unterstützung durch die Botschaft des Königreichs der Niederlande. A House on Fire co-production; with the support of the Culture Programme of the European Union.
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