Art and political engagement: a growing dilemma

Today, the deadly conflicts that are raging around the globe seem to be tarnishing the art world. Many galleries have opted to cancel some of their planned exhibitions. The Roil Documenta Show team in charge of the nomination of the next curator for its 2027 edition in Berlin even threw in the towel before the task, put off by the attention that the current situation in Gaza polarizes and the inevitable pressures on their choice that came with it. Moreover, the dismissal of the chief editor of the reference magazine Artforum shook the art scene in the United States, leaving many with the bitter impression that there is no room for moral or political commitment in the arts at such a scale, where art seems to be considered by those in power as a mere pretext for mundane and transactional encounters that should by no means be jeopardized.

Despite this, political engagement sells. Experience has proved it on many occasions. Paintings of African American artists were sold at record prices during the unfolding of the events revolving around the Black Lives Matter movement. The appeal of meaningful art anchored in current social issues was palpable in this case. Christie’s, which was then one of the main hubs of these mind-blowing sales, however, capitulated under the pressure by cancelling two paintings by the famous Lebanese artist Ayman Baalbaki off her 9th November sale; paintings where, according to some interpretations, the turmoil of the Palestinian situation were implicitly echoed. The artist denounced that discrimination, which contradicts the excitement during the aforementioned sales. Was it then easier, as more favorably looked upon, to overtly denounce a form of racism than to dare provide a platform to works of art that imply a more nuanced reading? The withdrawal of the paintings has in any case not stopped them from being sold in private.

In contrast, others chose to address the problem head-on. The Käthe Kollwitz retrospective named “Taking a Stand” at the Kunsthaus Zürich succeeded in poignantly echoing an urgency that transcends time. Through sculptures, etchings, drawings and prints, this German artist who passed away in 1945 was the first woman to be part of the Academy of Arts in Berlin. Threatened by deportation in the last years of her life, she never stopped resisting and denouncing the conditions of the voiceless through her art. During the inter-war period, Käthe Kollwitz first tackled the oppression of the poorest and the working conditions of the peasants: women peasants and mothers in particular. Her message later became more and more revolutionary to the point of undergoing the censorship of the rising Nazi regime. Her monography titled Je veux agir dans ce temps (inspired of a statement of hers usually translated as: “I want to have an impact in our times”) also touches on the revolt in the face of the First World War’s disastrous consequences that thoroughly drove her work, and to the dark unfolding of the Second World War which she witnessed in the last years of her life.

Paying tribute to that unfailing engagement during these past four months, this exhibition reminds its viewers how relevant her message still is. Jonas Beyer, its curator, confided: «The exhibition was planned way before the war in Ukraine and now in the Middle East. But events have caught up with us, and showed that morally and politically engaged art – one that puts forward the desire to preserve human integrity –, can deploy its strength in very diverse contexts.” This exhibition includes interventions by the Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum, providing a culturally-specific, yet shared perspective, on the misery and the disasters caused by war. With each work, words such as occupation, genocide, tacitly verbalize, as in a common rallying cry, and, in so doing, embracing, our world’s current challenges, and «giving a chance to peace», says Jonas Beyer, commending the empathy and the «universally human» sentiment that emerges from Kollwitz’s work. A form of activism that is expressed through grief and loss and which moves through its most intimate side. He adds, regarding the title of the exhibition: «The intention of the title was to remain deliberately ambiguous. "Taking a Stand" in the first instance is what characterizes both artists, in that they are "taking a stand" through their art. Of course, it was also interpreted as a call, which was also fine by me. But I think that, as an artistic institution, we need to be careful not to use art as a means for a political goal. However, we can always demand peace. In that sense, the title had to be a good compromise, inviting visitors to question the visitors’ preconceptions without locking them into a particular position with regard to current events.»

The Kunsthaus intends to persist on the path of engagement, with an upcoming exhibition paying tribute to the Lebanese artist Walid Raad, and a resolutely feminist thread running through the next season.