INVITATION

Ausstellungshalle zeitgenössische Kunst Münster
Hafenweg 28 (Speicher II), 48155 Münster, Germany

Little Warsaw
András Gàlik (*1970) und Bálint Havas (*1971)
Later On
10 July – 5 September 2010
Preview: 9 July 2010 19.30 
Press conference: 8 Juli 2010 10.30 

Little Warsaw, Qualities, 2001, 12 life size plaster figure, 
painted plaster, (iron structure),
Courtesy of MODEM Centre for Contemporary Art and Culture 
Debrecen, Hungary | Photo: Attila Gerencsér

András Gálik (*1970) und Bálint Havas (*1971), who had spent their childhood of the 70’s and 80’s in communist Hungary, began their collaboration in the late 1990’s after completing their studies at the Budapest Art Academy. Starting out painting during art school, they have since worked in various disciplines. Since the mid 90’s they call themselves Little Warsaw, a title they have given their collaborative activities. The focus of their work is a visual language that deals with the collective consciousness or sub-consciousness of the (Hungarian) society and the role of the artist himself in contemporary society.

Little Warsaw creates ambiguous situations by reflecting upon specific cultural traditions and examining  them through unexpected art interventions, which are often perceived as a provocation by the public. Their projects – films, installations and performances are concerned with the collective language of images,  traditions, social and personal contexts. They analyse the possibility of historical memory and the development of a collective consciousness, often with its tragic comical consequences. What is the meaning of history? How can you perceive, capture and verify historical processes? How do you become aware of the changes in your own life and the life of the others? What happens when you ask the same question to the same person later on? 
   
In the video-documentation „ My dear Professor, the way he was when I was born – 1971“ Little Warsaw used 40 year old archive film material (the footage is taken from the Gábor Bódy film “The Third” from 1971, copyright Balázs Béla Studió) in which an artist, then 18 years old, talks philosophically about his relationship with the world. Later on he becomes the professor of Gálik and Havas. In the film, the young man speaks about learning as a means of understanding the world. Years later  this same person reflects on the possibility of learning from history. As a grown man, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, he questions whether anyone had learned from the mistakes of the pre 1989 regime, or whether these subsequent supposedly drastic transformations must be understood as only a “game” with different rules, where nothing truly revolutionary was achieved. 

The exhibition „Little Warsaw: Later On“ in the Ausstellungshalle zeitgenössische Kunst Münster (Germany) shows 8 works (video-installations and sculptural works) of the last 10 years. 

List of Installations | Video-Documentations 
Marble Street, 2000
Qualities, 2001
Monument of the last biennial, 2002
Video-Installation: Body of Nefertiti, 2003
Electric scheme of the installation (Little Warsaw is Dead), 2004
Good Soil, 2003
Little Warsaw is Dead, 2008
Video-Installation: Game of Changes, 2009

Exhibition participation: Biennale in Venedig, Ungarischer Pavillon (2003); 2. Berlin Biennale; Manifesta 2008; Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam; Apex Art Gallery New York; Galerie für zeitgenössische Kunst
Leipzig; Hamburger Kunstverein; Frankfurter Kunstverein; Kunsthalle Budapest; Museum Abteiberg Mönchengladbach.

The exhibition will be opened by Wendela-Beate Vilhjalmsson, Bürgermeisterin of the City of Münster and Dr. Gail B. Kirkpatrick, Director of the Ausstellungshalle zeitgenössische Kunst Münster. The introduction will be presented by Susanne Titz, Director of the Museums Abteiberg in Mönchengladbach.

The exhibition is part of the international artist-exchange-program “Scene Ungarn in NRW”, organized by the NRW KULTURsekretariat and a program partner in “Kulturgebiet Münster 2010”.

Ausstellungshalle zeitgenössische Kunst Münster
Speicher II · Hafenweg 28 · 48155 Münster (Germany)
Telephon 0049 251/4924191 · Fax 0049 251/4927752 (Kulturamt)
kulturamt@stadt-muenster.de
www.muenster.de/stadt/ausstellungshalle

Telephon during the opening hours in the AZKM: 0049 251/6744675
Opening hours: Di.–Fr. 14 –19 and Sa./So. 12 –18 h

Guided tour: 17. /31. July, 7. /21. Aug., 4. Sept., each 15 –16 h
Let’s talk about art – Kunstgespräche: each Sunday, 16 –18 h
Nights of Museums and Galleries, 4. Sept., 16 –24; Artist-Talk with Little Warsaw starts at 18 h

Press office: Verena Voigt PR | Mobil: 0163 191 16 69 | kontakt@verena-voigt-pr.de