Monitoring: Soft Power – The Artists are not present
The exhibition Monitoring was established 25 years ago with the aim of opening up a space, alongside Kassel Dokfest’s comprehensive film program, for cinematic, audiovisual, digital and media-critical installations.
Due to legislation for infection control, this year’s edition, with the title “Soft Power,” had to be canceled. A large share of the artists was willing to have their works presented online. Though thankful for this openness, we must remember that this cannot replace a physical exhibition.
Monitoring presents installations that visitors experience in the space through their staging, their materiality and through the use of light and sound. The confrontation of the different artistic works allows new, complex stories to be told.
I would like to thank the artists and the entire team for their creativity and their tireless commitment in the last weeks and months. In order to draw attention to the situation artists are facing right now, the campaign “Ohne Kunst und Kultur wird’s still” (Without art or culture, it’s getting quiet) has already been started. We too would like to openly show solidarity with artists, filmmakers and all the other people who work in the cultural sector and are particularly affected by the present situation.
Lisa Dreykluft, Head of Monitoring