Déjà-vu? The Art of Reproduction from Dürer to YouTube

What relationship does the copy have with its original? How important is authenticity and what role does forgery play? As digital media has developed over the years, the function and aesthetic value of reproductions and copies have become increasingly important – and not only since the rise of YouTube and Flickr. The exhibition Déjà-vu? featured a collection of outstanding copies and reproductions of artwork dating back to the Middle Ages. Visitors were able to view copies of famous works by Dürer, Giorgione and Holbein, as well as pieces by Brueghel, Matisse, Baselitz, Duchamps, Cindy Sherman and Francis Alÿs, which were copies or contained references to existing artworks. The goal of the exhibition was to acknowledge the historic value of copies and not present them merely as second-rate reproductions. In view of society’s veneration of original works and the museums’ traditional role in their preservation, this exhibition also examined the copy as an independent reflection and symptom of art-sociological and historical contexts. The planning and implementation of the exhibition was jointly coordinated by the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe and the Karlsruher Hochschule für Gestaltung, which had previously co-organized a conference on the same topic. The organizers published an extensive catalogue which addresses the art-historical and theoretical aspects of the topic and its connections to other disciplines, e.g. the philosophy of law. An educational programme featured a corresponding exhibition for children and young adults.

Artistic director: Pia Müller-Tamm
Curators: Alexander Eiling, Ariane Mensger, Wolfgang Ullrich, Wilfried Kühn
Künstler/innen: Mike Bidlo (USA), Aneta Greszykowska (P), Klaus Mosettig, Cindy Sherman (USA), Yinka Shonibare (GB/NWAN), Elaine Sturtevant (USA), Hiroshi Sugimoto (J) u.a.