Haus der Kunst, Munich
May 2023
The work of Rirkrit Tiravanija (b. 1961, Buenos Aires) will be presented throughout the month of May at various sites in Haus der Kunst, forming a de-centralised exhibition. The exhibition coincides with Toshio Hosokawa’s opera Hanjo, which will be staged in the Westgalerie of Haus der Kunst in collaboration with the Bayerische Staatsoper, for which Tiravanija is creating the stage design. The Opera Hanjo is based on a modern Nō play by the same name written by Yukio Mishima (b. 1915, Tokyo, d. 1970, Tokyo) which was itself inspired by a 14th century play by Zeami Motokiyo. It tells the story of two lovers and explores the borders between dream and reality, between madness and sanity. Tiravanija’s practice focuses on the artistic production of social engagement, often inviting viewers to inhabit, participate and activate his work, engaging in shared rituals — as with his culinary performances — and actions. Over the course of his thirty-year career, he has also come to incorporate installations, painting, printmaking, video, photography, mixed-media assemblage, and music into his practice, but always with an emphasis on varied cultural spaces and temporalities. Curated by Emma Enderby with Hanns Lennart Wiesner The staging of Hanjo by Toshio Hosokawa is a cooperation of Haus der Kunst München and Bayerische Staatsoper. Learn more at Haus der Kunst.