Europe: Ancient Future

April 23–August 15, 2021 
 
With the idea of Europe and the nation-state more broadly in crisis, a deep division between those wishing its calcification and those wishing its dissolution grows. The need to reevaluate our ideals, values, and history is strongly needed if we are to move forward together in a shared future. The exhibition Europe: Ancient Future (2021) attempts to grapple with this human bind between the individual and their society—a perplexity that has been repeatedly reformulated since antiquity. The show explores the stories and ideas of invited artists whose images and works refer to a past while simultaneously shining a guiding light on our present and possible future. Around a dozen renowned artists approach, in quite different and yet particular ways, these wide-ranging themes, which for all their contradictions, share an interest in a constructive interplay of individual and society and in opening up possible alternative histories of Europe. 
 
In his series The Earth, the Temple and the Gods, featured in the exhibition, the American photographer James Welling works with the architecture of the Acropolis and the Agora in Athens. He uses digital and, in part, forgotten analog technologies to breathe the color back into objects and sculptures that have faded over time—colors that not only get “under their skin” but also awaken them to a new life. 
 
In order to capture and expand on this discussion, an extensive supporting program is being offered with the participation of guest scholars and artists and a substantial publication is being prepared to accompany it. 
 
Learn more at Halle Für Kunst Steiermark.