MUNICH.- With “Carrying,” Museum Brandhorst presents an exhibition project that activates spaces inside and outside the building. Works by the international artists Hêlîn Alas, Cana Bilir-Meier, Louise Lawler, Kate Newby, Tiffany Sia, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, and Leyla Yenirce occupy historically charged sites and transit zones of the museum as well as the public space. Architectural interventions, performances, paintings, and sound and film works enter into dialogue with the museum and interrogate the entanglement of military and cultural power.

The starting point is the site where Museum Brandhorst is located today, along with the Pinakothek der Moderne and other institutions of the Kunstareal Munich. This is where the Prinz-Arnulf-Kaserne, also called “Türkenkaserne” (Turks' Barracks), once stood. The name of this military complex, built in 1826, refers back to prisoners of war who were brought from the Ottoman Empire to Bavaria for forced labor in the late seventeenth century. Such (hi)stories have become inscribed in place and street names such as “Türkenstraße” (Turks' Street) and the “Türkentor” (Turks' Gate).

Which stories are told, who tells them, and how? The invited artists approach, from different perspectives, how history and memory become entangled with constructed narratives—and how they are carried forward through images, media, and monuments. Various interpretations overlay historical realities of violence, exploitation, and cultural dispossession and continue to inscribe themselves as patterns to the present day—from the era of the “Gastarbeiter” (guest workers) to ongoing debates on territorial borders, migration, and belonging. Such questions gain new urgency where the separation of war and culture obscures how deeply they are entwined.

At specific sites—such as Cy Twombly's Lepanto Room and the “Türkentor” (Turks' Gate)—“Carrying” understands the museum as a resonance chamber in which the institution examines its own history and identity, linking local approaches with global questions.

Several of the works were created on the occasion of “Carrying” and are in direct dialogue with their exhibition site.

As part of the exhibition, an extensive program of artist talks, dialogue formats, workshops, and film programs will take place.

Curated by Franziska Linhardt

Booklet

Accompanying the exhibition, a free booklet will be published that tells and expands upon the stories and sites of “Carrying” in many voices. With contributions by Hêlîn Alas, Cana Bilir-Meier, Gürsoy Doğtaş, Dr. Verena Hein, Achim Hochdörfer, Louise Lawler, Kalas Liebfried, Franziska Linhardt, Kate Newby, Zakirah Rabaney, Tiffany Sia, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Can Sungu, and Leyla Yenirce.

The booklet is available at Museum Brandhorst.