Prometheus Unbound

Since antiquity, the Titan Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods to give it to humanity, has been regarded as the creator of civilisation and bringer of culture. In the Athenian tradition initiated by Aeschylus, Prometheus’ philanthropic gestures towards human beings represent the irreversibility of the possession of culture and sparks Man’s further development as an autonomous being. This tradition, in which progress and technique (techné) are allied with politically loaded humanist values, has coalesced in the modern revival of Prometheus. On the one hand, the Titan became a symbol of freedom and self-reflection for emancipating man not once but twice: from nature’s subjugation and political-religious authoritarianism. On the other hand, the cult of Prometheus has coincided with the project of instrumental rationality that was used to both legitimise the alleged superiority of Western culture as well as affirm European modernity as the endpoint of human evolution. This unresolved ambivalence particular to Prometheus—being the universal hero of mankind versus the West’s local hero—lies at the core of the exhibition, which explores the potential of the ancient myth and its modern interpretations. What can Prometheus still teach us today?

The figure of the immortal Titan, naked and chained to a rock in punishment for his sacrilegious theft, is a powerful and paradoxical illustration of the dualism between the divine and the human—an image that resonates deeply with modern depictions of suffering. The artists in this exhibition, in various direct and indirect ways, engage with the symbolic narrative of this myth. They encapsulate the antagonistic relationship between destiny and self-determination, failure and progress, captivity and liberation. In Prometheus Unbound, we comprehend how the Promethean subject, freed from its chains, can also be seen as a metaphor for a contemporary global history, one viewed from a perspective that eventually reaches beyond the European matrix: Prometheus unbound has now fled to an open territory where it is no longer the Western history that determines its direction. The artists in the exhibition chart so far unexplored forms of knowledge and different systems of imagination, and converge a millennial drama of ethical struggles, hybris and curse into works that aim to grasp history by means of the hidden nature of things.

Participating artists: Jonathas de Andrade, Lothar Baumgarten, Yervant Gianikian & Angela Ricci Lucchi, Friedemann von Stockhausen, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Aimée Zito Lema

Curated by Luigi Fassi
Assistant curator / Production manager: Birgit Pelzmann

The catalogue Prometheus Unbound (Mousse Publishing) comprises information on the presented works of art, and original texts by Hartmut Böhme, Luigi Fassi, Jared Hickman and Giovanni Leghissa.

The multidisciplinary arts festival steirischer herbst in Graz / Austria is taking place for the 50th time in 2017. The festival is grateful for this opportunity to ask some fundamental questions about the way art and society see their position: where exactly do we stand? What led to this present? And what instruments will we use to define our place in the world and the roads we follow in future? Or: Where Are We Now?

Besides the festival exhibition Prometheus Unbound many more projects in various art fields will be presented. In an exhibition and a number of walk-throughs, the renowned artist Walid Raad, for instance, proposes artworks and stories about Islamic art, World War I and the building of new infrastructures for the arts in the Arab world: Kicking the Dead.

Additionally, co-operation projects with various institutions in Graz round off the festival’s visual arts programme. steirischer herbst 2017 opens on September 22, followed by the exhibition openings on September 23 and 24. On October 12 & 13, the leitmotif Where Are We Now? will be the focus of a “philosophical canteen” featuring Heidi Ballett, Clémentine Deliss, Tim Etchells and Marcus Steinweg, amongst others.

For media information: presse [​at​] steirischerherbst.at
For catalogue and exhibition enquiries: pelzmann [​at​] steirischerherbst.at
For more information on the festival and the complete programme please visit: www.steirischerherbst.at