Flugblätter (pamphlets) is an exhibition-series initiated by Düsseldorf-based curator Birgit Jensen in which Holger Nickisch is participating as an artist.
For this project, Jensen approached some 130 international artists from her wide network, asking them how they, as visual artists, respond to the latest developments in a globalised world: What position do they take? How do the changes and attendant social tensions and conflicts influence their work?
A vast spectrum of answers was returned from over 32 countries. Each expression of the 130 artist reflects another aspect of our time – be it philosophical, social, political or ecological. It shows that the artistic thinking is rooted in a specific social experience.
Known for engagement and the sense for activism that shows through many of his works, Holger Nickisch was one of the artists invited to participate in Flugblätter. In response, Nickisch submitted the photographic registration series of his ongoing work Ausfegen….
Ausfegen… is a performance work in reference to Joseph Beuys, in which Nickisch collects the remains of significant expressions of protest, left behind in the streets by the participants of protest marches and rallies. This performance work is next represented by installations showing the collected banners and other rally materials (which were stored in carefully constructed wooden boxes), and also by photo registration of these materials.
Met with great positive response, the Flugblätter-project has seen multiple editions since its first vernissage in Germany in the Summer of 2017. Birgit Jensen curated this first presentation in collaboration with author and artist Barbara Camilla Tucholski – which was shown at the artists´ estate Künstler Gut Loitz e.V. in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. A second exhibition was presented in Spring of 2018 at Pictura, the oldest artists association in The Netherlands, in Dordrecht. This time in co-creation with artistic director Teresiña Talarico. The third show took place in Maebashi in Japan in the Fall of 2018, in collaboration with curator Kenzo Onoda.
Flugblätter 2017
July – Künstler Gut Loitz, Loitz an der Peene / Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (GER)
Flugblätter 2018
April – Pictura, Dordrecht / Zuid-Holland (NL)
September – Arts & Culture Warehouse, Maebashi / Gunma (JP)
Flugblätter 2019
March – Cross Lane Projects, Kendal / Cumbria (GB)
May – Schloss Plüschow, Upahl / Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (GER)
October – Clay Street Press, Cincinnati / OH (USA)
November – Haus des Wandels, Heinersdorf / Brandenburg (GER)
Further editions of Flugblätter are expected to follow.
