"West of East - An exhibition about Europe in 6 chapters"

posted by: Lena Prents

Curated by Lena Prents with contributions by the Contemporary Art Study Center at the EHU 4 September – 4 October 2012 Gallery Ӯ Minsk, praspekt Nezalezhnasti 37а. Open on weekdays 11-22, on weekends 12-22. West of East reflects on the notion of a simple geographical disposition which for centuries has determined the ideological construct of a divided Europe. From the perspective of Belarus, this exhibition about Europe in six chapters looks without romanticisation towards the west and asks for a self-definition of Belarus within a common European and global context. West of East includes new and commissioned contemporary art works by Michael Aerts (BE), Goldin+Senneby (DK), Ane Hjort Guttu (NO), Asako Iwama (J/DE), Aleksander Komarov (BY/D), Andrei Liankevich (BY), Marina Naprushkina (BY/D), Sergey Shabohin (BY) and Jura Shust (BY). West of East is the second exhibition in a scope of Europe (to the power of) n, a European collaboration with 10 institutions in key cities across the continent. Europe (to the power of) n is a transnational project of the Excellence Initiative of the Goethe-Institut. It is a collaboration of the Goethe-Institut in Munich and the Regional Goethe-Institutes in Central and East Europe, Southeast Europe, Northwest and Southwest Europe and East Europe / Central Asia, the Goethe-Institutes in Belgrade, Brussels, Istanbul, Warsaw, London, Minsk, Vilnius, Oslo, Beijing and Madrid with ten institutions in and outside the European Union. Europe (to the power of) n is coordinated by Sabine Hentzsch, Goethe-Institut in London. Artistic director is Barbara Steiner. The external partners are: Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź; Curating Contemporary Art Department / Royal College of Art, London; Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter, Høvikodden / Oslo; Associated partners: Contemporary Art Study Center/European Humanities University, Vilnius; Novaja Evropa Magazine, Minsk; Galerie Ῠ, Minsk; SALT, Istanbul; Muzej savremene umetnosti Vojvodine, Novi Sad; Sint-Lukasgalerie, Brussels; Taipei Contemporary Art Centre, Taipei; Vitamin Creative Space, Beijing / Guangzhou; Office for European Capital of Culture 2012, Donostia-San Sebastián.