Voids of Presence – Between Past and Future

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Spatial and architectonic transformations of the last three decades in the urban landscapes worldwide reflect the logic of change in social, economic and political developments in a global neoliberal context. They also open up an extensive field for a complex discourse on the very philosophy of existence, an existence that is, in turn, determined by those spaces.

In the research for the startingpoint of this development the absence of any system competition after the end of the Cold War must be seen as the central trigger for these spatial metamorphoses. In place of various competing concepts in organizing and shaping social and spatial life designs, the global collective dream of a commodity-shaped future, of a supposed “prosperity for all” has emerged. The increase in urban densification and the disappearance of public space due to market-oriented commercialization and unregulated developments, which can be observed in both Western and centrally planned urban contexts, can be seen as one of the most significant aspects of the global neoliberal reality.

The title of the project, “Voids of Presence,” is in a way also a metaphor that describes the remaining free, common spaces and furthermore opens a space for a culture of resistance. How can a “void” regain common, social and political significance? How do these spaces acquire new functions and meanings and how do we revise the voids in the territories of our imagination?

“Voids of Presence” shows international artists of different generations and origins from Berlin and Eastern and Western Europe, who address social upheavals from various perspectives, both in terms of their urban consequences and the possibilities that arise from them.

Four interventions in the urban space connect the Galerie Nord with the project space Spoiler in Moabit and the Haus der Materialisierung of the Haus der Statistik. In addition, an accompanying programme offers discursive analyses on the design of current and future voids.

Curated by Ruben Arevshatyan

Supported by the federal programme “Neustart Kultur” of Stiftung Kunstfonds, the Stiftung für Kulturelle Weiterbildung und Kulturberatung and the Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa.
The exhibition is part of the initiative DRAUSSENSTADT.