New Turn in The Art World

The exhibition Early Years which opened in the KW Institute of Contemporary Art in Berlin in January takes us to Poland, where contemporary art and museums and other cultural institutions are reaching new heights.
For a few decades now contemporary art has been going through hard times.

The common criticism it has been coping with is that it has become an elitist practice, which is too complex and has, therefore, completely lost its social relevance. But criticism has also been levelled at cultural institutions. Since the 60s, they have also been confronted with reproaches concerning their policies and practices, and even their social and cultural influence has been called into question.

Nevertheless, the outlook in Poland is totally different, where contemporary art benefits from a wider understanding and acceptance. And as if that weren’t enough, new museums and other cultural institutions – be it private or public- are emerging and opening their doors to a public hungry for new art. This tendency is evident with the construction of a museum of contemporary art (Museum of Modern Art in Varsovia) in the Polish capital.

The show at the KW Institute of Contemporary Art in Berlin wanders through the fields of institutional self-reflection, seeing the birth of a museum, which not only has to face the conflicts revolving around contemporary art, but also be aware of the institutional critique and the collapse of the economy, that has affected the cultural field as much as the business world. We are facing hard times, yet Poland proves that art and museums can still come forward and that it is a question of redefining and being receptive towards the insecurities and changes of the moment.

The early years of an artist describe that magic moment, which initiates every artistic journey where naivety and the fear of the unknown merge with the immense creativity of the first artistic experiments. The show tries to look at the present events in Poland and the birth of a museum from the perspective of the early years, that unique instant where everything is possible, and aims to help in the process of reframing an institutional identity in collaboration with polish emerging artists, like Wojciech Bąkowski, Yael Bartana, Tania Bruguera, Oskar Dawicki and Daniel Knorr.

This fresh exhibition sets a new and encouraging outlook for the arts and cultural institutions such as museums. Because right now we are in need of optimistic and constructive visions, rent apartments in Berlin until the 2 of May, and bear witness to a new turn in the cultural world.