From April 6-30, 2006, the exhibition “Economy Class” is taking place at the Alliance Francaise in Nairobi. The organizers of this spontaneous show, which includes a good 100 prominent Austrian artists, were Barbara Husar, Michael Lampert, Alexander Nikolic and I.
We considered ourselves to be neither classical curators nor a uniform artistic collective. The entire organization and preparation of the exhibition was done in only three weeks. Overall, we wanted to reproduce and put the Central European “Art Bubble” into question.
In the present cultural world the here, now and today of the artistic avant-garde has yielded to a universal predictability. Today, contemporary art means “Planned Economy.” Exhibitions are conceived years in advance. The standardized correspondence of art and artist, curators as civil servants of the new taste. “Economy Class” should analyze the conventional, institutional art business. An exhibition as performance. All-inclusive tourists as carriers of European culture. A spontaneous sculpture against a long-established art business, which has become sluggish and continuously reproduces itself. The only limitation for the participating artists was the ability of their works to fit into suitcases. We flew economy class and without travel insurance to Kenya, Nairobi. A last minute trip to Africa. A continent, which, in Europe, doesn’t exist. The colonial exploitation followed the imperial ignorance.
The exhibition, “Economy Class,” was the romantic attempt to break through the narcissism of the art world and its reproduction. We were interested in the criticism of our foreign cultural connections. Kenyan newspapers and TV stations reported on the exhibition. The reactions to the displayed works were mixed. Along with many positive views there were certain visitors who thought most of the works were too sexual.
After the opening there was a seemingly large program consisting of public discussions and lectures about the art institutions in Nairobi. Usually there were many visitors and the program itself seemed to generate cooperation for the future. After the private viewing Alexander Nikolic and I traveled to Mathare, the largest of Nairobi’s slums with about 700,000 inhabitants. Nikolic, Hopkins, Mwelu and Otieno helped me realize my art performance. For three days straight I wore a white tuxedo and traveled through the swamp of Mathare, impregnated with shit, people and rat cadavers, corpses of vermin and scattered AIDS-patients. The white man on inspection in his colonial estate. School classes jumped up singing “welcome!” and “thank you for visiting!” when they saw me in the white tuxedo. I gave out candy and let the school’s director show me the damp, windowless classrooms. We visited illegal Dschanga-brewers on the Nairobi River, whose alcohol-like muck is often the only water source in the slums leading to consumption and blindness for many.
The performance with my white tuxedo was a part of my “Vienna Voodoo” Series, which will also come out as a separate photo edition. I wanted to show two worlds in one picture. The perspectives change. Capitalist Realism. Realities join together, when normally they would be separated by border fences and restricted areas. The inhabitants of the slum were happy when they saw me in a suit. They weren’t shocked. On the contrary, I symbolized normality for them. In their reality every white person is rich. For them the nice suit was more an expression of respect than a provocation. Our view of Africa is at the most a compassionate one. Starving children. War. AIDA. We don’t appear there, except as Samaritans, Humanitarian Aid workers or Aerzte ohne Grenzen (Doctors without borders). Social workers.
Julius Mwelu and Fred Otieno live in the slum. They grew up there. They work as filmmakers and photographers and document life and death in the slum. They’re writing a story about the slum. A story nobody else is writing. Together with Nikolic they document my slum-performance. What began as Making of Vienna Voodoo developed with numerous Interviews to a small documentary about the problems and perspectives in Mathare and a first general test for our next project: Slum TV.
The starting capital for the slum station will come from the sales of the photo-edition.

(text Lukas Pusch; translated by Michael Badolato)

text published: http://www.nyartsmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5659&Itemid=199

From 5 April to 30 April 2006 the Alliance Francaise in Nairobi, Kenya
in collaboration with the Austrian Embassy is placing at our disposal its premises,
where currently a group exhibition of over 90 artistic
attitudes of contemporary Kenyan artists is being shown.
Following this exhibition our project will be presenting a current
selection of contemporary Austrian art.

As our focus is set on long-standing alliances with representatives of the
Kenyan and African scene we consider our project to be a stimulus
to promote and multiply future cooperations.

In the preparation phase as well as during the actual exhibition
the entire ECONOMY CLASS project exclusively relies on the effective networking
within the community, which clearly contrasts it from institutionalised cultural activities.
This results in an organic social structure, which has grown within just a few days,
and can be considered as a work of art in its own right.

*

The existence of all-purpose plans in the present cultural scene has
replaced the commitment to the here and now of the artistic avantgarde.
Contemporary art today means planned economy.
Exhibitions are conceived years ahead.
There is standardised exchangeability of art and artist.
Curators function as the civil servants of the new taste.

ECONOMY CLASS questions the conventional and institutional cultural scene.
The entire exhibition becomes a performance.
Package holiday tourists as bearers of the European culture.
Interdisciplinary artists from Austria exhibit their current positions
in Nairobi, Kenya.
In a place where the understanding of art has a different basis,
the contributions proactively demand an artistic dialogue and cooperation.

An exhibition in the era of digital repeatability.
Originals, repros, prints, installations, sculptures, films and arttalks.
Suitable as hand luggage and without transit insurance.
Last minute to Africa. A continent that does not exist in Europe.
Colonial exploitation was followed by imperial ignorance.
The exhibition ECONOMY CLASS is the romantic attempt
to breach the navel-gazing in the cultural scene
by simultaneously reproducing it.

http://economyclass.sonance.net/