The exhibition Volksgarten. The Politics of Belonging is happening in the immediate vicinity of the Kunsthaus Graz. The aim is to paint an all-inclusive portrait of the city districts of Lend and Gries, on whose common boundary the Kunsthaus Graz is located. By virtue of their ethnic and social variety, the two districts encompass a demographically interesting space right around the Kunsthaus Graz and also around the exhibition.
The exhibition, titled after the park of the same name, is a stage on which the theme of social space is addressed and challenged at many levels. The artists taking part are applying themselves to the special circumstances of the districts and reporting their perceptions either as general statements in Space02 of the Kunsthaus Graz or in the form of participation projects directly within the two city districts.
With works by Absalon (IL), Pawel Althamer (PL), airline (CH), Bik Van der Pol (NL), Thomas Hirschhorn (CH), Pierre Huyghe (FR), Helmut und Johanna Kandl (AT), Sharon Lockhart (US), Gordon Matta-Clark (US), Jean-Luc Moulène (FR), Los Carpinteros (CU), Maria Papadimitriou (GR), resanita (AT), Daniel Roth (DE), Özlem Sulak (TR), Stephen Willats (UK), Manfred Willmann (AT).
A catalogue accompanies the exhibition. With contributions from Bik Van der Pol, Adam Budak, Thomas Hirschhorn, Helmut Konrad, Christian Kravagna, Suzana Milevska, Peter Pakesch, Katia Schurl, Özlem Sulak, Sissi Tax, Stephen Willats and Nira Yuval-Davis.