The Art of the Palliative Turn / Art for the end of our way of living
Curated by Barbara Steiner
Bauhaus Museum Dessau, Dessau
30 March – 11 November 2023
“Business as usual no longer offers a solution! Accept the end of the world as we know it and plan for it! The art of palliative change affirms life and at the same time understands dying as a normal and natural course of things!”
In 2020 the artist Olav Westphalen (*1963) initiated the Association for the Palliative Turn as a loose international group of artists. Since then, the members have been dealing with the artistic possibilities of dealing with death, relief and farewell in various media and event formats – using humor, generosity, joy and reflection. In the practice of life, the human body inevitably plays the role of a medium.
The various restrictions that bodies impose on people are just as much a part of this as all special sensory perceptions and experiences.
Kasia Fudakowski, Who can touch me where, when I no longer can, 2021; Stuffed patchwork fabric on sound-dampening molton fabric; 210 × 160 cm
Photos by Thomas Meyer