Kunst/Geschichten Art/Histories

How is history written? Whose mission is it to write it? Which tools are used to examine and evaluate historical events and to disseminate knowledge about them? How objective are scholarly research and the historic documents on which it is based? Both have recently fallen into disrepute, with much doubt cast on their credibility. What is the legitimacy of visual artists who address historical themes and events in contemporary history with their own resources and distinctive methodologies and express them in poetic language?

With this publication accompanying a topical exhibition at the Museum der Moderne Salzburg (26 July–26 October 2014) its new director initiated a discussion about a central component of the museum’s mission: to constitute history by means of artifacts. The exhibition focused on works with a specific frame of reference: art that reflects on history and contemporary events as well as its own involvement. The works span the period from the seventeenth century to the present and launcha dialogue with the museum’s own and other local collections, with different viewpoints and artistic practices including the mechanisms and phenomena of the art world.

With works by
Anonymus, Kader Attia, Elias Baeck, Lothar Baumgarten, Alfred Baumgartner, Heimrad Bäcker, Michael Blum, Marcel Broodthaers, Johann August Corvinus, Alice Creischer, Gerti Deutsch, Otto Dix, Stan Douglas, Harun Farocki, Omer Fast, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Simone Forti, Andrea Fraser, Andrea Geyer, Dan Graham, Renée Green, Ernst Haas, Jörg Immendorff / Felix Dröse, Jörg Immendorff, Sanja Iveković, Kurt Kaindl, Gülsün Karamustafa, Anselm Kiefer, Käthe Kollwitz, Christoph Lederwasch, Deimantas Narkevičius, Walid Raad / The Atlas Group, Elaine Reichek, Aura Rosenberg, Martha Rosler, Anri Sala, Andreas Siekmann, Wael Shawky, Chen Shaoxiong, Johann Conrad Stapff, Danh Vō, Lawrence Weiner, Akram Zaatari