The Silver Lining: Contemporary Art from Liechtenstein and other Microstates

The Liechtenstein art association Kunstverein Schichtwechsel is inviting young artists from the European microstates Iceland, Luxembourg, Montenegro and Liechtenstein to engage in dialogue and work together. Within the framework of the Collateral Event The Silver Lining they will focus on past events and question how these events have shaped their current living situations.

The starting point is Walter Benjamin’s text, On The Concept of History, in which he describes the history of humanity as a “chain of events”, events which retrospec- tively take on the appearance of a single catastrophe. Despite this growing “pile of debris”, humanity’s desire for progress drives us inexorably, blindly into the future.

Benjamin wrote the text in 1939 at the onset of the Second World War, which forced him to flee as a result of his heritage and led him to commit suicide a year later. His sombre view of the world is challenged by alternative views on events by young artists – events which have inspired them and have positively shaped their lives and the lives of those around them. A particular focus is the influence of coming from or living in a small country. The artists’ subjective and critical per- spectives provide a glimpse into life in a microstate and simultaneously address the process of constructing history.

The artists are on site for the duration of the ten-day Collateral Event and will develop their work during this time. They present their artistic practice within a programme involving short talks and feedback discussions; visitors will be en- gaged by varied means, including performances.

The exhibition The Silver Lining, curated by the art association Kunstverein Schichtwechsel, will be housed in the Palazzo Trevisan courtesy of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, also home to the Salon Suisse.