Chto Delat. When We Thought We Had All the Answers, Life Changed the Questions

Opening: May 25, at 20:00 h.
Dates: May 26 -October 1, 2017
Spaces: Monumental Area, Patios de Prioral, de Pérgolas and Claustrillo Mudéjar
Curators: Juan Antonio Álvarez Reyes in collaboration with Ana Ballesteros Sierra
Coproduced by: Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo and Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo de México

In 2003 a group of artists, philosophers and writers founded the Russian collective Chto Delat. The name, which translates as "What is to be done?", formulates a highly relevant question in these times of crisis while also recalling a famous pamphlet written by Lenin. The group’s approach to projects is heretically linked to devices developed by authors like Brecht, Godard and Fassbinder. They combine theatre, video, mural art, banners, drawings and sculptures with other formats, such as a self-published newspaper and the educational platform they founded (the School of Engaged Art in St. Petersburg).

The variety and versatility of their work is illustrated in this exhibition, whose title offers an ironic commentary on the ability of capitalist and authoritarian regimes to change the rules of the game at any time, and on the need for malcontents within those regimes to create temporary autonomous zones of action as prescribed by Hakim Bey.

The great crisis in which we are now immersed may well be the moment when they changed the questions on us, just when we thought we had the answers that would advance the cause of social justice. The show, which will travel to Mexico City after opening in Seville, also alludes to liberation theology, particularly in connection with agents of resistance who were sacrificed. The display apparatus that the group has devised for the monument zone of the former Carthusian monastery contrasts the angels and heroes of that historical resistance with retrograde movements. Other works deal with the educative and transformative action of the artistic avant-gardes, especially in Russia. The selected pieces, produced between 2009 and the present day, also address the dilemma of those torn between the desire to retreat to a safe haven and lick their wounds and the need to continue the struggle for change despite the risks involved.

 

ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION

[Exhibitions Labels]

[Press Dossier]

[High Resolution Images]

[Photo Album on Flickr]

 

This exhibition has been co-produced in collaboration with