Manifesta 11: What People Do For Money - Our Highlights

26. July 2016

As the first weeks of Manifesta have passed and all the offshoots of the Biennial have become part of the urban image of Zurich it’s time for us to share our personal highlights with you. Off we go.

Manifeasta 11, the Biennial for contemporary art, has taken up Zurich and left marks all over the city. It’s hard not to come across some sort of artwork related to Manifesta but also quite hard not to loose track of all the happenings in the context of the Biennial. That’s why we’ve compiled our personal highlights.

Imbissy

Imbissy is a collaboration between artist John Arnold and chef Fabian Spiquel, who usually serves his delicacies at Maison Manesse. The two have teamed up to reinterpret historic state banquets that were once held in Switzerland. During Manifesta 11 food stalls spread all over Zurich serve the newly created culinary delights. Noble state banquets meet street food to go – embassy meets Imbiss (the German word for snack).

Pavilion of Reflections

The wooden construction floating on Lake Zurich just by Bellevue serves as open-air cinema. A series of short films shown on a large screen offers insights into the development and creation of the commissioned art pieces for Manifesta 11. The clips were filmed by students of the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, the artists and protagonists were interviewed by so called Art Detectives – local high school students.

As its name implies the pavilion also acts as a haven of calm. Swap your work clothes for your swimsuit and take a dip or have a drink at the bar and enjoy the view.

Wermke/Leinkauf

On July 22nd in 2014 the German artist duo Wermke/Leinkauf hoisted two all-white American flags with hand-stitched stars and stripes atop Brooklyn Bridge in New York. They swapped them for the usual red, white and blue ones without anyone noticing. An uncommented video screened at Helmhaus shows media snippets discussing the incident – journalists, experts and the public extensively debating whether the intervention poses a threat to the American people. It’s interesting to see how the artwork unintentionally caused a stir and was completely misinterpreted.

Fokus Storytelling

Every Wednesday evening Zurich based professionals take visitors to a piece of art they personally feel connected to. Individual stories and experiences are incorporated into the presentation of the artwork. Next up is teacher Dina Wild talking about the work of Terrassa Margolles.

Signage

Designer Ruedi Baur developed the signage and visual language for Manifesta 11. He created distinctive pictographs guiding visitors through Zurich. The symbols pick up on the topic of work and illustrate the broad spectrum of the subject matter by capturing all the involved professions.

Our publication Manifesta 11: What People Do For Money, the official catalogue of the biennial, offers insights into the collaborations between Zurich based professionals and internationally renowned artist. The hosts of the so-called satellites – workplaces where artwork is displayed – talk about their experiences during the process of the cooperation between themselves and the artists as well as how these came about.

Manifesta 11 is still going until September 19th. Find more information on the venues and the opening times of Manifesta 11 on their website as well as the addresses and opening times of all satellites.

Manifesta 11:
What People Do for Money

30,00 €