The exhibition Golden Repair is a continuation of a long-term curatorial venture that began in 2023 with the exhibition Handle with Care. It explores the themes of healing and repair in a broad sense, including social, natural, ecological, physical and psychological processes.
The title of the current exhibition refers to the ancient Japanese technique of vase repair, kintsugi, in which broken or damaged porcelain objects were glued together with resin sprinkled with gold dust, highlighting the location of cracks. The works in the exhibition highlight the fault lines at different individual and global scales, drawing attention to the damage caused by wars and climatic disasters, the losses resulting from historical inequalities and exploitative economic structures. These processes determine both the physical health of individuals and the mental health of society. Concepts such as injury, wound, fracture, trauma, which emerge in the exhibited works, are not only related to human beings, but also to the land, our waters, air, forests, the whole ecosystem.
What are our chances of recovery in the age of the burnout society (Müdigkeitsgesellschaft)? What are our prospects for renewal in the face of economic exploitation, long-standing oppressive regimes and dramatic destruction of natural resources? Can we repair what is broken – our health, our relationships, our society? What paths and strategies are offered by contemporary art, which is based on the premise that there is no perfect, whole and complete state, only cracks and a will to repair. What can a museum, as a physical and spiritual space, offer beyond articulating the concept of restoration and well-being in a world in need of healing?
CURATORS
Viktória Popovics, Rita Dabi-Farkas
