The trilemma of paradise

When hell and paradise are one and the same, Art might be the only remaining discipline to deliver new answers. The second part of the EDEN exhibition focuses on three artistic perspectives:

Tanja Boukal/A references to the racial clichés linked to the iconic Josephine Baker and her famous banana skirt. As a strong, self-confident personality dealing with racist expectations in her very own way. As a dancer, singer, airforce pilot, spy and mother of 12 adopted children of all colors. Self-ironically, she called her family «Rainbow Tribe». Josephine Baker received one of France’s highest honors, by being posthumously inducted into the Panthéon in Paris in November 2021.

Mark Henley/UK portrays invisible, forgotten people. The fruit and vegetable pickers in the Bernese Seeland, opposite the lake where WhiteSpaceBlackBox is located. These veggie pickers contribute to the urban consumers’ image, consciously enjoying fresh, regional and organic products – without giving a thought how these pleasures come about: by «imported» cheap workers at the subsistence level – still earning eight times more than in their home countries.

As our Artist in Residence Kudzanai Chiurai/ZW created a series of works, looking through the eyes of Friedrich Engels and other philosophers onto the «Triangular Commerce». Thus rethinking the postcolonial system, which still nowadays dictates the rhythm through traded education-systems, intangible cultural codes and lack of renewal.