Jung Hsu

The international event series Shifting Terrains - Beyond Black and White explores the growing social polarization worldwide and its interaction with technologies, bodies and spaces. The artists and a team of curators will present their observations on changes in the social fabric and the relationship between the individual and the community in an exhibition, a live concert and two film evenings at Kunstquartier Bethanien Berlin. Featuring video and sound works, films and installations, the international team will embark on a search for potential dialogue and social transformation.

Digital technologies reinforce existing polarizations. At the same time, however, they also offer new opportunities for exchange and networking and help create counter-publics and give marginalized perspectives a voice. In addition to technologies, the second focus of the event series is the body as a medium and symbol, as it is often at the center of polarized debates due to its political, social and cultural significance.

The third focal point of the exhibition, the spaces, examines how polarization and digital media create social and physical spaces of exclusion that prevent people from moving freely.

The group exhibition Shifting Terrains shows video works and installations by international artist like the video installation Again - Noch einmal by German artist Mario Pfeifer in which he explores racism, lynch law and civil courage with the help of interviews and scenic re-enactments. The video Worn Away by Taiwanese artist Chieh-Jen Chen shows people in a state of imprisonment who have become useless bodies for the state in the course of the transformation of the world of work through digitalization.