PRESS RELEASE
Stadthausgalerie (c/o Kunsthalle Münster) 

TIME TO RECOLLECT
CIVIC VIRTUE / SIL KROL
11. October – 10. November 2013
Opening: Thursday, 10. October 2013, 7:30 pm
Press Conference: Wednesday, 9. October 2013, 10 am
Place: Platz des Westfälischen Friedens (Rathausinnenhof), Münster
Opening Times: Tues-Sun 12-6pm

Please join us for the performance “A Word is a Broken Sign” by Gijsbert Wouter Wahl / CIVIC VIRTUE during the opening. 

The exhibition Time to Recollect: CIVIC VIRTUE / SIL KROL is dedicated to conscious and unconscious images of history: what is the relationship between an actual occurrence and its recorded history? How can this difference be assessed? By the showing and the critical reflection of specific, formative images from the city history of Münster, the exhibition questions and reconsiders this new handling of historicity. Can history be individually construed? How dissimilar can images of the same historical moment appear and what then is the difference regarding their interpretation and exploitation in the collective context?

In the Stadthausgalerie in Münster’s center, located in direct proximity to the historically significant Platz des Westfälischen Friedens (Westphalian Square of Peace) and the historic town hall with it’s Hall of Peace, the international, Amsterdam-based artist collective Civic Virtue and the Dutch artist Sil Krol will create a dialogue around these questions. Specifically  the old city of Münster – that appears at first glance to be historically authentic but was in fact completely reconstructed after the Second World War – presents an ideal sphere within which to examine the “Canonization” and contemporary associations of history.  Discoveries made on forays into Münster’s streets and corners and unique finds from the City’s municipal archives mark the points of departure for CIVIC VIRTUE’s installations, videos, sculptures and performances. Seemingly nondescript architectural elements in the City’s structure serve as material for the artists while maintaining their significance in Münster’s religious history. By subjectively expanding traditional approaches to the writing of history, such as ‘revealing traces’ of bygone atmospheres, the artists engage the subversive potential of specific historical moments and make them visible. 

Sil Krol is concerned less with the identification of concrete historical events than with using architectural interventions as means for creating a platform for physical self-reflection. In the foreground, his interventions consist of detailed architectural models that make clear en miniature which subtle approaches can be evoked through a profound public discussion. Through their reduction and medial clarity, these architectural interventions – weather presented in exhibition spaces or in the city itself – ultimately serve to inspire a process of intense debate.  

Curated by Jürgen Dehm and Suzie Hermán

Time to Recollect: CIVIC VIRTUE / SIL KROL is accompanied by a program of events including a podium discussion, an evening concert in the Stadthausgalerie and a series of films in collaboration with Die Linse im Cinema.

CIVIC VIRTUE is an artist collective founded in Amsterdam in 2010. Its members are Geirthrudur Finnbogadottir Hjorvar (IS), Ruchama Noorda (NL), Gijsbert Wouter Wahl (NL) and Brian McKenna (CA). The group combines interest in the nature and structure of communities and the transformation of symbols of power and representation through all times and cultures.   
The artist Sil Krol (NL) is known for his architectural interventions in public spaces. 
The exhibition is part of the curatorial program followup, a project of Schloss Ringenberg (www.schloss-ringenberg.de). This project’s goal is to support practice-oriented young curators and artists in collaboration with German and Dutch cultural initiatives, including the Kunsthalle Münster. 

Contact: 
Jürgen Dehm | Schloss Ringenberg | juergen.dehm@gmail.com 
M +49 (0) 176 985 893 50 | www.schlossringenberg.wordpress.com

Suzie Hermán | Schloss Ringenberg | suzie.herman@gmail.com 
M +31 6 29 39 99 69 | www.schlossringenberg.wordpress.com

Press: Kunsthalle Münster  | Verena Voigt | kontakt@verena-voigt-pr.de
M +49 (0) 163 191 16 69 | www.kunsthalle.muenster.de