KOWTALK: Candice Breitz in conversation with Joanna Warsza

The history of art is abundant with artists who have, in one way or another, created space for political and ethical reflection within their creative practice. Breitz pays tribute to some of them in this exhibition – evoking, borrowing, reproducing and reanimating earlier works and performances by artists and musicians as diverse as Renée Sintenis, Esther Bejarano, John Baldessari, Félix González-Torres, Mark Wallinger and Christoph Schlingensief, with varying degrees of reverence.

In the video series Dear Esther, Candice Breitz weaves exacting analysis of the political and cultural landscape of contemporary Germany with fever-dream imagery and anecdotal research, drawing an arc between fascisms of the past and fascization in the present. The first film in the series, Dear Esther (May 1943), recalls a formative moment in Esther Bejarano’s early life, setting the tone for the ‘letters’ that follow. It is intended to be viewed along with the film that follows it in the series, Dear Esther (15 May 2020).

The video work Dear Esther lasts 47 minutes. The gallery opens at 12 pm on Friday. We kindly encourage you to join us to watch the film before the talk begins at 6:30 that day. Viewing the film after the talk will not be possible. The conversation will be held in English. Attendance is free.

CANDICE BREITZ (born in Johannesburg, 1972) is a Berlin-based artist. Her moving image installations have been shown internationally.

JOANNA WARSZA is Hamburg’s city curator (Stadtkuratorin Hamburg). ‘A Song for Esther,’ a concert that has been conceived by Candice Breitz in homage to the late musician and anti-fascist activist Esther Bejarano, was originally commissioned by Warsza within a series of ‘Counter Monuments’ for Hamburg.

A Song for Esther will run at HAU in Berlin for two consecutive nights on 6 June and 7 June.

Tickets are available here