TECHNO

First installment of TECHNO HUMANITIES (2021–23), initiated by Bart van der Heide, Director of Museion

Museion – the museum of modern and contemporary art in Bolzano, Italy, presents TECHNO, the first installment of TECHNO HUMANITIES, a long-term program that assembles themes emerging from confrontations between humanity, ecology, technology and economy. Pairing the mainstreaming of techno in the mid 1980s with geopolitical processes and economic advancements at the time, TECHNO considers the musical genre outside of its subcultural definition. It comprises a group show that will occupy the entire Museion building, the project “Day Rave” by artist and performer, Isabel Lewis in a former power plant and a rich public program.

Articulated through three themes—Freedom, Compression and Exhaustion—the exhibition puts the techno experience center stage, adopting it as a lens through which to capture a contemporary human condition and social order. Museion invites an international group of artists, thinkers and producers to explore how cultural phenomena related to techno have become interlaced with the ways we experience our identities today.

Art critic and curator, Francesco Tenaglia, will produce podcast interviews and coordinate the compilation of playlists with thinkers, producers and organizers from the global techno scene that will be published throughout the duration of the exhibition. Florian Fischer—stage director and author—together with sound producer, Samuel Kerridge, will develop an audio piece about the techno community on the dance floor.

An anthology of the title Techno Globalization Pandemic, which will include texts by Bart van der Heide, Matthew Collin, Anna Greenspan, Matthew Herbert, Caroline Busta & LIL INTERNET will by published by Hatje Cantz in time for the exhibition opening.

Contributing artists: Riccardo Benassi, Paul Chan, Nicolò Degiorgis, Karin Ferrari, Massimo Grimaldi, CC Hennix, Tishan Hsu, Mire Lee, Ghislaine Leung, Isabel Lewis, Piero Martinello in Zusammenarbeit mit/in collaborazione con/in collaboration with Franco Ruaro, Sandra Mujinga, Nkisi aka Melika Ngombe Kolongo, Emeka Ogboh, Yuri Pattison, Daniel Pflumm, James Richards und/e/and Steve Reinke, James Richards, Jacolby Satterwhite, Leander Schwazer, Sung Tieu, Jan Vorisek

Exhibition architecture by Diogo Passarinho Studio, Berlin

Opening event:

5pm: Isabel Lewis Day Rave at Alperia S. Antonio, Bolzano (in collaboration with the TRANSART Festival and with the support of ALPERIA)

7:30pm: Exhibition opening at Museion, Bolzano