Things That Were Are Things Again

Together with artists and designers, the Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig (GfZK) is testing sustainable strategies that reduce the GfZK's energy consumption and enable cycles of recycling in the collection exhibition "Things That Were Are Things Again". The selected works - including installations, photographs, paintings, sculptures, video works and interventions in the GfZK garden - testify to a sparing use of resources and focus on social as well as cross-species interaction. Expanding the collection's holdings, local and international artists, including Kent Chan, Katarína Dubovská, Inga Kerber and Sean Snyder, are invited whose works highlight the technological, political, economic and cultural dimensions of climate change.

As part of the exhibition, the gallery will join the artist Olaf Nicolai in exploring ways to realise a new, environmentally friendly version of his work “Labyrinth”. The Leipzig textile network lokaltextil will grow kenaf, a hibiscus plant, in the GfZK's garden, to store as much as CO₂ as possible locally.

From a technical standpoint, the project addresses the following questions: What concrete conditions have to be created for the presentation of the collection? What measures are necessary to reduce the energy consumption of the cooling and heating units? In collaboration with the Belgershain gardening centre, the Lokaltextil network and the sustainability start-up ScobyTec, the project organisers will be able to test new production forms in order to answer these questions.