The private artistic association Kunst Meran Merano Arte has invited eight curators to work on the role of art in the contemporary world on the occasion of a double anniversary: 25 years since its foundation and 20 years of activity in the current location under the arcades, the Kunsthaus. The chosen curators had already collaborated with the institution in this period of time and enthusiastically welcomed the idea of a multi-voiced exhibition on the occasion of the anniversary. On August 16, 1972 Vilém and Edith Flusser moved to Merano. In a letter dated 23 January 1976 to her friend and artist Regina Klaber Thusek - who in the 1930s fled Nazism by taking refuge in London, since she was of Jewish origin, just like Flusser, and was finally confined to Merano by the fascist regime - Flusser wrote that “Works of art are suggestions for future experiences”. The phrase was part of an intense dialogue between the two on the relationship between beauty and kitsch. Flusser intended kitsch as something pleasant and familiar, unlike beauty, seen as a suggestion that must be learned, even with difficulty.
45 years after its formulation, this quote directly linked to the recent cultural history of Merano constitutes the starting point of the exhibition ARTE È.
With this exhibition Merano Arte intends to reflect on its past, present and future. Many years of intense collaborations have shaped the institution's exhibition activity. This aspect determined both the form and the method underlying the anniversary project, expressed in a multi-part result.
From 17 July to 24 October, Valerio Dehò, Luigi Fassi, Sabine Gamper, Günther Oberhollenzer, Andreas Kofler, Anne Schloen, Magdalene Schmidt and Susanne Waiz will present their “suggestions for future experiences” through art and architecture.