Thicker than water

With works by Candice Breitz, Simon Fujiwara, Badr el Hammami & Fadma Kaddouri, Nan Goldin, Verena Jaekel, Haejun Jo, Nina Katchadourian, Ragnar Kjartansson, Neozoon, Johannes Paul Raether, Gillian Wearing, Tobias Yves Zintel

In view of changing realities the meaning of family has to be rethought. At the latest with the protest of the ‘68 generation criticism of rigid role models and patriarchal power has become part of the social mainstream. Yet as soon as it comes to defining what a family is the discussions become more heated. What constitutes a family in its core?

Besides value and generational conflicts the broad social debate about family is influenced by new developments in technology like IVF or surrogacy as well as a diversification in lifestyles. Instead of legitimizing family biologically it can be perceived as a result of a production process or “doing family.” This leads to the question whether the term family is now open to all individual interpretations and can be filled with diverse forms of communal living. The changes in family structures and developments in society influence each other. Thus family affairs do not only have a private, but also a political dimension.

The exhibition presents works by Candice Breitz, Simon Fujiwara, Badr el Hammami & Fadma Kaddouri, Nan Goldin, Verena Jaekel, Haejun Jo, Nina Katchadourian, Ragnar Kjartansson, Neozoon, Johannes Paul Raether, Gillian Wearing and Tobias Yves Zintel. The participating artists reflect the current status of family either from a critical distance or a personal viewpoint. Which meaning does family have in view of globalized working conditions and pluralized ways of life? How do networks and friends replace classical family structures?

Familia, the Latin origin of the word family, translates to household. Therefore, the origin of the term suggests a community based on voluntary commitment rather than blood relations. It seems to capture the plurality of current family concepts. Is family nowadays based on a choice and no longer a genetic chance?

The exhibition is accompanied by the conference “Thicker than water? Family concepts in society, science and art” (September 24 and 25, 2016). Speakers from sociology, art history, media studies, literature and cultural studies discuss this interdisciplinary topic from various perspectives.