Nation, Narration, Narcosis: Collecting Entanglements and Embodied Histories

A special exhibition of the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in dialogue with the collections of Galeri Nasional Indonesia (Jakarta, Indonesia), MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum (Chiang Mai, Thailand), and Singapore Art Museum (Singapore), funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation and initiated and funded by the Goethe Institut. Nation, Narration, Narcosis: Collecting Entanglements and Embodied Histories at Hamburger Bahnhof is dedicated to the relationship between art and political protests, historical trauma, and social narratives from the 19th century to now. The works on display explore the effects of nation-building, colonialism or the Anthropocene on societies, their narratives, as well as the ecology of our planet. Departing from Beuys’s concept of the social sculpture, the exhibition confronts the notion of nation contained in the name “Nationalgalerie” with alternative concepts of connectivity, solidarity, and individuality. Artists: Agan Harahap, Albert Samreth, Amanda Heng, Ampannee Satoh, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Arahmaiani, Bruce Nauman, Bussaraporn Thongchai, Carl Schnebel, Charles Lim, Chulayarnnon Siriphol, Dolorosa Sinaga, Germaine Krull, Gregor Schneider, Gülsün Karamustafa, Hannah Höch, Ho Tzu Nyen, Holly Zausner, Jeroen de Rijke & Willem de Rooij, Joseph Beuys, Karl Hofer, Käthe Kollwitz, Kawita Vatanajyankur, Klaus Staeck, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Marcel Odenbach, Marina Abramovic, Mary Wigman, Melati Suryodarmo, Ming Wong, Natalia LL, Natasha Tontey, Nguyên Bá Viet, Noa Eshkol, Orawan Arunrak, Öyvind Fahlström, Raoul Dufy, Ray Langenbach, Rudolf Jordan, Semsar Siahaan, Shane Bunnag & Pichet Klunchun, Soydivision, Stephanie Comilang, Sung Tieu, The Forest Curriculum, Tina Haim-Wentscher, Tita Salina, un.thai.tled, Valie Export, Vandy Rattana, Via Lewandowsky