Slavs and Tatars: Mirrors for Princes: KUNSTHALLE ZÜRICH, ZÜRICH

After the presentation of their audio-piece «Lektor» from February to August 2014 in the future public library, Kunsthalle Zürich now opens an extensive solo exhibition of the artist group Slavs and Tatars. Focusing on the “area east of the former Berlin Wall and west of the Great Wall of China”, the artistic and discursive work of Slavs and Tatars engages transcultural as well as transdisciplinary questions of history, politics, religion, and language. Language and its conditions of translation, enactment, and resonance provided the starting point for «Lektor’s» inquiry into the medieval genre called “Mirrors for Princes”. This kind of epic advice literature for rulers also serves as the title for the exhibition. The works on show perform a particular translation of literary tropes as well as vernacular objects, such as religious furniture or cosmetic tools, into art works that create new semantic relations within the realm of art. They further the investigation of speech and sovereignty, initiated by «Lektor’s» selection of verses performed in different languages over the last few months (together with an intensive programme of screening-performances and talks), towards a broader spectrum of aesthetic experiences to contemplate and re-enact.