Sympoiesis
Strategies of Worlding-With

For several years now, the cultural scientist Donna Haraway has been using the term 'sympoiesis' to promote a paradigm shift in art and society: "Sympoiesis is a simple word; it means 'making-with'. Nothing makes itself; nothing is really autopoietic or self-organizing. [...] Sympoiesis is a word proper to complex, dynamic, responsive, situated, historical systems.' It is a word for worlding-with, in company." (Haraway, 2018)

Against this background, the exhibition at Haus Coburg attempts to view artworks no longer as the result of individual experiences and creations, but to focus on diverse exchange processes. Artworks bring many things together: technologies, instruments or materials, memories, archives, texts and narratives, people and places with stories and experiences. All of these elements contribute to the creation of meaning, a process in which viewers are involved. 

Institutions play a central role in the collaborative creation of art. Even more than academies or exhibition venues, galleries influence artistic paths. They accompany artists over the long term and can significantly facilitate their working conditions. Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi in Berlin occupies a special position among the program galleries. Without regard for market expectations, the gallery represents artistic positions that challenge normative assumptions, negotiate power, intimacy and fluid body images, and pursue collaborative and multidisciplinary strategies. Through her gallery, Isabella Bortolozzi creates a place and context in which per­formative and dissonant works appear and become estab­lished. Moreover, the gallery's artists repeatedly involve each other in the realization of their artistic projects and publications. 

The exhibition 'Sympoiesis' revolves around this gallery as a place of creation. The show examines artworks for their various creative components and reflects on the potential of partnered actors.

Curated by Matilda Felix.