Recent riots on the streets of France that developed during the yellow vest protests reveal the speed and intensity with which activist movements can cast the foundations of government into question. The increasing polarization of political groups both at home and abroad is illustrative of uncertainty and social dissatisfaction; it reveals a need for political engagement and reform and expresses the desire for change and revolt.
Are You Satisfied? Contemporary Art and Revolution addresses the conditions and mechanisms of revolutionary action and its consequences from a contemporary perspective. The artists establish points of departure partly in historical events and current forms of protest, bringing state regulation, representations of power, and resistance into focus.
Concrete, historically realized revolt underlies the exhibition, forming the foil and reference point for gauging current political conditions and individual scope for action. The artists examine the potential of revolt, the limits of participation, and trace the mechanisms of repression in democracy and modern consumer society.
The exhibition concept was developed by Peter Kruska and Sönke Kniphals for the Stadtgalerie Kiel and adapted for Galerie im Körnerpark by Dorothee Bienert and Natalia Raaben.