Wochenklasur at ev+a 2006

The plus sign (+) incorporated into the word ‘visual+’ in the exhibition’s title and with the letter ‘v+’ in the logo, does not represent the conjunction ‘and’. Rather, it calls attention to the fact that that art as product and process engages and integrates all the senses, not mainly or only the visual sense. All art springs from how we perceive through all our – at psychology’s recent count – eleven senses.

At the invitation of the sixth EV+A Biennial in Limerick, Ireland, WochenKlausur realized the “Belltable Open”, a cinema with a special film program targeted at ethnic minorities. Because cinema and film are important cultural catalysts, WochenKlausur conceived a monthly film event for immigrants at the Belltable Arts Centre. Every month, immigrants from a different country would be given the opportunity to arrange screenings on a free evening. In order to arrange showings of the movies selected by the immigrants, WochenKlausur contacted film distributors, production companies, festivals and directors around the world, negotiating with them for access to prizewinning films free of charge. A free admission policy enabled everyone to see the films, regardless of income. The group also succeeded in organizing buses to transport people from the city’s three refugee centers to the evening film events.