Protozone8: Queer Trust

“Queer Trust” is an attitude that draws from and relies on the in-between. It has shaped the work at Shedhalle as a space for process-based art since 2020 and is also the basis of Protozone8. The exhibition shows artistic works and ways of working that trust in relationships and processes beyond fixed attributions. The participating artists share intimate, vulnerable, open, and courageous artwork. In doing so, they question (gender) identities as well as artistic, scientific and social traditions and classifications.

“Queer” is, among other things, a term for the ambiguous and the unenclosed. In this sense, the term goes beyond sexual orientation or the question of gender. It is the basis of an attitude that insists on an “in-between,” a diversity of perspectives, and constant change.

For Protozone8, “Queer” is joined with the term “Trust.” Relationships with artists and trust in artistic processes are the foundation that gives support to constant change and non-fixation. This is what makes working in the art space Shedhalle possible in the first place.  Trust is also placed in the visitors, who are invited into this space of fluid transitions. Queer Trust is a call to trust the space between.

Protozone8: Queer Trust is developed and organized in exchange with the participating artists. Together with the visitors, Queer Trust creates space for the presentation of works as well as opportunities for gatherings, new experiences, and learning.

With
Dana Michel (artist-in-residence) and Tracy Maurice, Lay Them All Down, 2020.

Dorota Gawęda and Eglė Kulbokaitė, Leave No Trace (Athens) I-VIII, 2022; RYXPER1126AE, 2019; Votive Flowers (I–II), Freestanding Votive Flowers (I–VI), all 2022.

Isabel Lewis, The Institute for Embodied Creative Practices, ongoing. In collaboration with Josephine Baan, Nina Emge, Izidora I LETHE, Ceylan Öztrük, Tyra Wigg, and international art schools.

Natasha Tontey, Garden Amidst The Flame, 2022. Commissioned and produced by Auto Italia, London in partnership with La Becque, Tour-de-Peilz, Stroom Den Haag, The Hague, and Shedhalle, Zurich.

Sunny Pfalzer, I know what to do—with Lau Lukkarila and Slim Soledad, music by Marshall Vincent—produced in collaboration with Perrrformat.

Tarek Lakhrissi Beast! (2022) - with Makeda Monnet and Victor da Silva - co-commissioned performance with Tinguely Museum (Basel), Move Festival, Centre Pompidou (Paris), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), Shedhalle (Zürich), Bureau des Heures Invisibles (Aubervilliers) & A horn is a thorn is a horn (2021)

Terre Thaemlitz, Interstices, 2001, and talk with Laurence Rassel.

Curated by Philipp Bergmann and Thea Reifler. Curatorial assistants: Ani Ekin Özdemir and Vanessa Bosch.