TransAct statement

Under what circumstances are aesthetic experiences political? This was the question at a panel discussion today, 7 April, at the Generali Foundation in connection with the exhibition "Dinge, die wir nicht verstehen" (Things We Don't Understand). Art institutions are generally deemed responsible for analysis of aesthetic content and political topics are not seen as a part of their concern unless it is about cuts in state spending on culture or similar everyday policy matters. How far are these two fields separated in practice? Art is created in a specific context and is therefore also concerned, sometimes more and sometimes less explicitly, with its social and political context. I do not see how these two fields can be seen separately or separated from each other. It obviously requires "special circumstances" to make us more conscious of this.

Sabine Breitwieser
Director of the Generali Foundation Vienna