Exhibition Opening: Art in Europe 1945–1968

Together with the A. S. Puschkin-Museum, the ROSIZO in Moscow and the BOZAR in Brussels, the ZKM is organising the large-scale exhibition project entitled »Art in Europe 1945 to 1968« – curated by Eckhart Gillen and Peter Weibel. The exhibition focuses on the connecting cultural forces on the Eurasian continent and takes into account a central cultural region, which has been repeatedly shattered and disrupted by wars and crises in the 20th century. The period of 1945 to 1968, which is highlighted in the exhibition, stands in many ways for artistic and political perspectives, which were forward-looking in contradictory ways. After the end of the Second World War in 1945, the political and cultural boundaries hardened increasingly, until a decisive turning point for shaping the future in European post-war history in the East and West was marked ultimately in 1968 through the Anti-American student revolts and the new Ostpolitik introduced by Willi Brandt.

Speakers at the opening:

Winfried Kretschmann, Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg
Frank Mentrup, Mayor of the City of Karlsruhe
Eckhart Gillen, Exhibition curator
Koen Haverbeke, General Representative of the Government of Flanders in Germany
Peter Weibel, Curator and Managing Director of the ZKM | Karlsruhe