In the occasion of Yael Bartana's representation of Germany at the upcoming 60th Venice Biennale, Annet Gelink Gallery dedicates its project space to the artist.
On view is Zukunftsbewältigung (Overcoming the Future) from 2023, a video that explores the human capacity for hope and its influence in shaping our political imagination. The work is a culmination of Bartana's enduring research into the intersection of history, ideology, and social upheaval, drawing inspiration from the 1920s.
The 1920s were an era in which dance, movement, and civil unrest became more intertwined. On the one hand, physical expression became appropriated by the state and used as nationalist propaganda. At the same time, reform movements discovered dance's potential for protest and the reclamation of a certain freedom.
For this work, Bartana drew inspiration from the Laban Choreographic Institute, which opened its doors in 1927 in the Berlin-Grunewald area. The Institute was founded by Hungarian choreographer Rudolf von Laban (1879-1958) and became a prominent place for the development of a kinetographic style of expressionist - and later modern - dance.
Von Laban based his work on the principles of Lebensreform (life-reform movement), a social movement aimed at promoting a healthier and more natural way of living, in response to the perceived negative impacts of industrialisation and urbanisation. Physical work was perceived as a way to improve not merely physical strength, but also mental well-being. Drawing inspiration from this life-reform movement, Von Laban developed a notation system to document and analyse movements, known as "Labanotation".
Bartana takes this notation system as a metaphorical framework through which she examines the relation between physicality, social dynamics, and ritualistic gestures. Navigating between utopian ideals and dystopian scenarios, Zukunftsbewältigung underscores the mechanisms of power structures while embracing human's ability for hopeful imagination.
Yael Bartana's work has been exhibited worldwide, including GL Strand Copenhagen(2024); Jewish Museum Berlin (2021), Fondazione Modena Arti Visive (2019/2020); Philadelphia Museum of Art (2018); Stedelik Museum, Amsterdam (2015); Secession, Vienna (2012); Tel Aviv Museum of Art (2012); Louisiana museum (2012) Moderna Museet, Malmö (2010); MoMA PS1, NY (2008). She won the Artes Mundi 4 Prize (2010) and the trilogy And Europe Will Be Stunned was ranked as the 9th most important art work of the 21th century by the Guardian newspaper (2019). She studied at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem, the School of Visual Arts, New York and the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. Her work is part of the collection of a.o.: Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague; Guggenheim Museum, New York; The Jewish Museum, New York; Kadist, Paris; Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Stedelik Museum Amsterdam, Amsterdam; Tate Modern, London; Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. In 2011 Yael Bartana represented Poland on the 54th edition of the Venice Biennial. In 2024 she co-represents German in the Venice Biennial.