Julian Rosefeldt’s Manifesto starring Cate Blanchett debuts in Scandinavia for Aarhus 2017

Cutting edge multi-screen film installation Manifesto, by the acclaimed artist Julian Rosefeldt debuts in Scandinavia on March 10 as part of the European Capital of Culture, Aarhus 2017.

Internationally acclaimed actress, Cate Blanchett performs the ‘manifesto of manifestos’ as a contemporary call to action, inhabiting thirteen different personas. She imbues new dramatic life into both famous and lesser known words in unexpected contexts.

“Manifesto is a breathtaking and monumental work, a tour de force demonstrating the power of creativity and a celebration of the important instability we need to motivate the evolution of culture – a shock tactic to unsettle the fixed and complacent. In a year of culture it is essential to examine the well that art and culture flow from,” says Rebecca Matthews, Chief Executive Officer of European Capital of Culture Aarhus 2017.

“The 13 personas in the installation are superbly inhabited by Cate Blanchett, and imaginatively staged by Julian Rosefeldt. They breathe new life into the incendiary words of artists and thinkers. The verve of Fluxus is reignited, the insistence on the real of Dogma 95 established by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg finds new life here,” adds Juliana Engberg, Programme Director of European Capital of Culture Aarhus 2017.

The 13-channel film installation Manifesto pays homage to the moving tradition and literary beauty of artist manifestos, ultimately questioning the role of the artist in society today. Manifesto draws on the writings of Futurists, Dadaists, Fluxus artists, Suprematists, Situationists, Dogma 95 and the musings of individual artists, architects, dancers and filmmakers. Studying the ideas of Claes Oldenburg, Yvonne Rainer, Kazimir Malevich, André Breton, Sturtevant, Sol LeWitt, Jim Jarmusch, and other influencers through his lens, Rosefeldt has edited and assembled thirteen collages of artists’ manifestos. Manifesto questions whether the words have withstood the passage of time. Manifesto can be experienced in Aarhus March 10 – April 15.

‘O’ Space is a contemporary art and video exhibition gallery created by Aarhus 2017. During the year it will feature works by significant local and international artists. It will be a launch pad for national and world premieres and represents a platform for a series of thought-inspiring installations. ‘O’ Space is situated in the heart of Aarhus at the industrial port area, at Mindet 6. Built in concrete form-work, raw and unpolished, the original architecture is celebrated, and honoured and built upon.

Biography:
The Berlin-based artist Julian Rosefeldt is internationally renowned for his visually opulent and meticulously choreographed moving image artworks, mostly presented as complex multi-screen installations. Inspired equally by the histories of film, art and popular culture, Rosefeldt uses familiar cinematic tropes to carry viewers into surreal, theatrical realms, where the inhabitants are absorbed by the rituals of everyday life, employing humour and satire to seduce audiences into familiar worlds made strange.  

Nikolaj Kunsthal in Copenhagen also presents a number of video works by Julian Rosefeldt that can be seen until May 21st. The exhibition is the first large-scale solo presentation of Julian Rosefeldt's work in Denmark

Manifesto has been co-commissioned by the ACMI – Australian Centre for the Moving Image Melbourne, the Art Gallery of New South Wales Sydney, the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and the Sprengel Museum Hanover. The work is co-produced by the Burger Collection Hong Kong and the Ruhrtriennale. It was realized thanks to the generous support of the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and in cooperation with Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Opening:
10th March: 18 - 20