Producing Futures—An Exhibition on Post-Cyber-Feminisms

Cao Fei, Cécile B. Evans, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Juliana Huxtable, Guan Xiao, MALAXA, Mary Maggic, Shana Moulton, Tabita Rezaire, Gavin Rayna Russom, Frances Stark, Wu Tsang, Anna Uddenberg, VNS Matrix, Anicka Yi

In the group show Producing Futures—An Exhibition on Post-Cyber-Feminisms, the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst surveys the causes championed by feminists in the post-internet era. Our virtual and real lives are almost inextricably interwoven today. Yet contrary to the heady proclamations of the cyberfeminists of the 1990s, cyberspace has not evolved into a realm of unclouded liberation and self-empowerment; it has also served to reinforce existing hierarchies and power structures. Opening with a new work by the artists’ collective VNS Matrix, which coined the term cyberfeminism, the presentation revisits the movement’s historic aspirations and visions, contrasts them with the contemporary situation, and inquires into ways in which its ideas may still be productive. The exhibition undertakes a critical engagement with different feminist approaches that put the spotlight on the tension between body and technology and on discriminatory gender norms. The contributing artists reflect on and defamiliarize the offerings of various online platforms in order to further blur the boundaries between virtual and real, online and offline, and the genders. Many of the works pursue a holistic view, drawing on (medical) science, the occult, and other fields to stimulate a more comprehensive discussion and generate ideas for a livable future of emancipation, gender justice, and social equality.

The exhibition will include works by Cao Fei, Cécile B. Evans, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Juliana Huxtable, Guan Xiao, MALAXA, Mary Maggic, Shana Moulton, Tabita Rezaire, Gavin Rayna Russom, Frances Stark, Wu Tsang, Anna Uddenberg, VNS Matrix, and Anicka Yi. An accompanying publication with essays by Joanna Walsh, Yvonne Volkart, Paul B. Preciado, Heike Munder, and Elsa Himmer will be released in the spring of 2019.

Curator: Heike Munder (Director, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst)
Assistant Curator: Elsa Himmer