Opening: 10.09.2010, 7 p.m.

The >Future of Europe< art prize was launched in 2003 with the aim of acknowledging the artistic achievements of young artists from post-communist countries and fostering understanding, cooperation and integration within Europe. Over the years, the art prize – worth 5,000 euros – has become an important award in the field of contemporary art and aims to encourage young artists to continue their artistic endeavours. The art prize was modified in 2010: it is now open to artists from across Europe. This goes beyond the borders of the European Union and refers to a common historical and culture space. The artist Ahmet Ögüt is the prize winner for 2010.

Ahmet Ögüt’s works capture tragicomical moments in people's everyday lives, which are a consequence of experiencing, perceiving and witnessing social, political and economic upheaval. The artist calls attention to elements of everyday life that seem unimportant at first but signify particular social conditions and (authoritarian) rules. Ögut works – which include comics, photos, videos and interventions in the public space – are set against the backdrop of his critical view of his homeland, Turkey. However, the criticism goes beyond the local conditions and refers to general problems of contemporary society. An important theme for the artist, are the endeavours of Turkey to become member of the EU. His installation 'Perfect Lovers' presents two coins one of two Euros and another of one Turkish lira, which is worth approximately half of its European counterpart but both are surprisingly similar. In this way, Ahmet Ögüt again proposes the contrast between two political and social realities, which monopolize a good part of current global, political debate.

The artist presents works created in the last 5 years, among them the installation PUZLLE, produced especially for his solo-exhibition in Leipzig. PUZZLE is an interactive installation reminding of a children game. Only, that the protagonists are a bomb disposal technician, two security dogs, a soldier, a suicide bomber and his wife in wheelchair who have to cross a river in a small boat. The rules of the game however exclude certain possibilities for sharing the boat in the same way the tense political situation makes impossible the dialogue between political opponents. In various ways but always with a strong social-critical background Ögüt uses the motive of the game also in some others of his works, for example, in 'Short Circuit', 'Light Armoured' or in ‘Three Spots’. The video 'Short Circuit' shows children in the outskirts of an unknown city playing football in the darkness. The street is lit up only by faint streetlight and the headlights of cars passing by sporadically in both directions. Suddenly, the squeaking of the brakes and then the blow are heard: the play stops and the film ends with the black shot. Not without irony the artist depicts the absurdity of our everyday life, marked by fears and mistrust. The resulting human actions are more often than not meaningless and ridicilous. As in ‘An Ordinary Day of a Bomb Disposal Robot’ for instance, in which a robot used normally to neutralise bombs and explosive substances takes out from a supposedly suspicious bag a cuddly toy. Ahmet Ögüt was born in 1981 in Diyarbakir, Turkey. He studied at the Yildiz Technical University, Department of Art and Design, and the Royal Academy of Visual Arts in Amsterdam. His works have been exhibited in worldwide including Amsterdam, Berlin, Istanbul, Venice, Basel, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Sydney and New York. He lives and works in Amsterdam and Istanbul. Ahmet Ögüt’s exhibit is part of this year's >A Contract for Art?< project, which in turn is part of the >The Museum as Patron?< module. Under this banner, young artists are offered a forum for their ideas and art production as well as support through prizes and grants. >Future of Europe<, >Inform<, the >Blinky Palermo Grant< and >Room 107< have all been initialized and financed through the private sector and will be presented at the same time as well as discussed in relation to their different implications and perspectives. Specifically, the role of the institution as a patron – especially when it comes to young artists – will be examined. This point, however, also includes promoting art appreciation in society.

INFORM. Award for Conceptual Design. 2010 prizewinner: Rebecca Stephany

11.09.2010 - 14.11.2010

Curated by Barbara Steiner

INFORM has been awarded on an annual basis since 2007 and is at the crossroads of graphic design and art. The award, which comes with 5,000 euros, was set up by Arend Oetker, Berlin. Laurent Benner (London) won the award in 2007, followed by Julia Born (Amsterdam). Rebecca Stephany (Amsterdam) was the winner in 2009. In 2010 works of Stephany will be shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Stephany distances from the notion of design as pure service. Instead she articulates the position of an author, bringing up and working on subjects and aspects she finds relevant in relation to contemporary art, design and culture. The visual language Stephany uses is developed in relation to the respective task, situation and context. The genesis of the work remains visible. Methodological dead-ends, ideas considered to be awkward or are otherwise abolished are not hidden but also presented. To fail - in terms of not meeting certain expectations she or others have - becomes an intrinsic part of Stephany's work. This allows her to challenge to a large extent art and design, their respective traditions, standards and rules. Combining a genuine passion with analytical approach she pushes the perception and understanding of art, design and their relationship further.

Rebecca Stephany was born in Wittlich, Germany, in 1980. She lives and works in Amsterdam. Stephany studied Visual Communication at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach am Main and Graphic Design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. Since 2007 she teaches Grafikdesign an der Gerrit Rietveld Academie. For 2010 and 2011 she has gotten a residency for the renowned Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam.

TRACK CHANGES

11.09.2010 - 14.11.2010

Curated by Zane Zajanckauska

Artists: Markus Ambach (DE), Reinhard Krehl (DE), Kate Krolle (LV), Līga Laurenoviča (LV), Kārlis Lesiņš (LV), Ingrīda Pičukāne (LV), Laura Stasiulyte (LT)

Curated by Zane Zajanckauska, scholarship holder of the Robert Bosch programme for culture managers from Central and Eastern Europe.
Opens 10.09.2010, 7 p.m.

Seven artists have been invited to examine allotments in the city as particular expressions of the inter-relationship between city and countryside and as a particular way of life and means of socialization. The artists are to deal with the ordering of nature in the urban landscape, its usefulness and adornment, as well as observe how the social changes and value shifts are reflected in the urban landscape. The work resulting from the project will be exhibited in the Museum for Contemporary Art Leipzig from 10 September until 14 November.

In Germany, allotments are known as colonies and this is indeed how they appear: as elements apparently belonging to the city and yet clearly manifesting their autonomy. The artists are to investigate the degree of discipline and control extant in a part of the city set aside for nature and how this calls into question our perceptions of the natural. Is the way in which museums exhibit and decontextualise works of art the same as the way fragments of nature appear in the city?

Following this, the artists will ask how societal changes are to be seen in the urban landscape and how our conceptions of productivity develop: What counts as purposefully used urban space, purposefully used time, a purposefully spent life? How are utility and beauty defined and what occurs when such meanings shift?

Part of the artistic works will be on show in Riga from 3 until 5 September in framework of the >Survival Kit< art festival.

As a satellite project the Latvian magazine >kuš!< is preparing a special issue with comic and photo stories on gardens and allotments by illustrators from Riga and Leipzig as well as from Switzerland, Japan, Mexico and the United States.

The project >Track Changes< is winner of the competition kultur-im-dialog.moe 2010 – a programme of the Schering Stiftung and MitOst society. TRACK CHANGES is further supported by the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony, the German Institute for Foreign Relations, the Latvian Cultural Foundation and the Cultural Foundation of the City of Riga.

Project partners: Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art, German allotment museum in Leipzig, the Latvian magazine >kuš!<.

Module: The Museum as Business?
>The Museum as Business?< module is dedicated to the business activities of the museum such as the bookshop, hotel and café. Artists, including Bernhard Cella (bookshop), Jun Yang (hotel space) and Apolonija ©u¹ter¹iè and Meike Schalk (café) are each respectively faced with a set of functional, financial, social and aesthetic tasks, as well as with functions or functionality, existing forms of use and financial models and subsequently respond by developing alternative concepts for doing business.

GfZK-Hotel. Jun Yang

26.11.2010 - 00.00.0000

Curated by Barbara Steiner

Concepts and designs for the business activities of the GfZK are created by artists. Designs for the garden and shop have already been completed. In 2010 the new design for the café, hotel rooms and bookshop is due to be carried out. In each case the artists' role amounts to more than satisfying a prescribed task: functions and target groups are placed at their disposal, redefined, broadened or in some cases displaced. The result is that economic questions become part of the project and part of the conceptual approach. This allows one to act in a way that is neither subjugated to economical necessities and forces nor separates these from the creation of art, but which rather explores these in a practical way. An example of this can be found in the case of Bernhard Cella. In his bookshop he concentrates on so-called grey books, or books without an ISBN number. Such books are difficult to come by, because the publishers do not have recourse to the dominant distribution channels. In the display - a grey presentation fashioned out of odd pieces of wood - Cella alludes to the marginalized role of these editions. Another example is afforded by Jun Yang's hotel room. It is named >Paris Syndrome<, which is an illness suffered by Japanese tourists whose expectations of Paris are ruined when they actually get there. It results in some of them suffering a kind of negative culture shock which nearly amounts to a trauma. The name chosen by Jun Yang is indicative of the entire notion, whereby longing and disillusionment are experienced simultaneously upon encountering the reality of that which is desired. The wish for the unattainable gives rise to a desire which cannot be satisfied: imitation and replica create a picture, a surface on which to project an unsatisfied dream.

ROOM 107: Stephanie Kiwitt

27.11.2010 - 30.01.2011

Curated by Julia Schäfer

Module: The Museum as Business?
>The Museum as Business?< module is dedicated to the business activities of the museum such as the bookshop, hotel and café. Artists, including Bernhard Cella (bookshop), Jun Yang (hotel space) and Apolonija Šušteršič and Meike Schalk (café) are each respectively faced with a set of functional, financial, social and aesthetic tasks, as well as with functions or functionality, existing forms of use and financial models and subsequently respond by developing alternative concepts for doing business.

Das Café Neubau

10.12.2010 - 00.00.2012

Curated by Julia Schäfer, Zane Zajanckauska, Nino Palavandishvili

Artists: Apolonija Šušteršič, Meike Schalk

Kafičbr> Every two years, the café at GfKZ is redesigned by artists – in the new building these have been Anita Leisz, followed by Jun Yang. For 2010 we have invited Apolonija Šušteršič and Meike Schalk to design the projected Café KAFIČ, which takes its inspiration from the Arabic coffee house tradition. Bosnian in origin but with its spelling and pronunciation adapted to Slovenian, the word KAFIČ means corner café. Šušteršič and Schalk are taking Leipzig’s various twin towns as a conceptual starting point for a café. Their intention is to create a place where different cultures can come together to establish and share space, a use which will also be made perceptible in the furnishing. The conception aligns itself to the various functions of the café space; at once a museum café, club, venue and rendezvous for various scenes.

The furnishing of the old café will slowly disappear to be replaced by the new elements, which will be successively produced. Café KAFIČ will take as its starting point a Food Fair: Leipzig dishes from all over the world, taking place on 10 September in the GfZK café.
Before its planned completion in December 2010, the café will play host to three events in which the questions of cultural exchange and its potential for conflict and both hospitality and inhospitality will be explored.