​KLARA RAVAT

Presented at the SAFA gallery in Shanghai, China.

Part of the show Department of love.

 

DEPARTMENT OF LOVE
Care <-> Hospitality <-> Reciprocity <-> Practice

If love in society is to represent a better one, it cannot do so as a peaceful enclave, but only by conscious opposition.”
(T.W. Adorno, Minima Moralia, § 110)

Originating from reflections on time and labor within the hyper-rapidly evolving context of Shanghai and cultural work in a global context, we propose to create an institutional framework that explores the notion of love and care, together with participating artists.

Looking at concepts of accelerationism and slowing-down as well as cultural institutions‘ self-definitions (platform, lab, forum, temple, ...) and the structure of this very program, we arrived at the notion of love, self-preservation, hospitality, and care as an essential basis for curatorial ad artistic work. What is the place(s), meaning(s) and function(s) of love in our contemporary world and work?

Within the exhibition, moments of authenticity, love, and care are staged to reveal (and stand in opposition to) the artificiality of the many vacuous institutional spaces. The space will consist of various architectural structures and design elements as well as transient performative actions, the remains of which will be present in the exhibition space after the opening ceremony.