How can we live in a healthy and economical way – now and in the future? The Haushaltsmesse at the grounds of the Masters’ Houses provides answers – from a creative, artistic, research, historic, and activist perspective. Starting from 4th May ten international artists and design collectives – among them Andrés Jaque / Office for Political Innovation (Spain), muf architecture/art (Great Britain) und Basurama (Spain) – produce their contributions on sight at the Masters’ Houses. From 12th June to 9th August the completed Haushaltsmesse will be on display: together with the art pieces an Archive Room and a Study Space – a place for experimental household research – will be exhibited. An extensive programme accompanies the Haushaltsmesse.
The houses once designed by Walter Gropius for the Bauhaus masters– seen in the 1920s as showcases for the modern way of living and housekeeping and now UNESCO World Heritage sites – will thereby serve as a point of departure for the investigation of the art of housekeeping and budgeting in the 21st century. In question are new housekeeping, budgeting, sharing, and economic strategies. Unlike the trade fairs and large-scale exhibitions of the modernist era, which publicly addressed household issues as early as the 1920s, the Haushaltsmesse on the grounds of the Masters’ Houses should not be regarded as an exhibition of individual objects. Here, the household is exhibited – or, rather, addressed – as a “modus operandi”: it is less about the presentation of technologies and objects in the household than about the practice of housekeeping.
The garage and cellar of the Director’s House, the Drinking Hall and the Muche/Schlemmer duplex become artistic trade fair displays, exhibition venues and settings for arts-based debates on housekeeping and budgeting. The contributing artists turn consumer products upside down, build new worlds from mass production’s waste, and show how societies are reflected in their kitchen’s design. In the Study Space at Muche House young artists and curators show the outcomes of their experimental research projects on saving and maintaining. And the Archive at Schlemmer House provides insights into the “domestic demonstration spaces” of the 20th century by way of historic photos, documents, and catalogues.
In addition, diverse event formats will offer the visitors the opportunity for exchange: starting from 18th June weekly round-table talks offer space for discussion with artists, urban dwellers and local players. At the fair opening on 12th and 13th June urban researchers and artists from Germany and abroad discuss the urban cultures of housekeeping and budget management and in conclusion of the Haushaltsmesse international housekeeping and budget management experts and activists debate globalised politics and practices of domestic affairs at the international summit.
Curated by Prof. Elke Krasny (academy of fine arts vienna) and Dr. Regina Bitter (Bauhaus Dessau Foundation)
Participating artists: Ursula Achternkamp / Bombyx (Germany), Basurama (Spain), Ivan Bazak (Ukraine), Sarah Bonnemaison (Canada), Yane Calovski (Macedonia), Estudio Sic (Spain), Phoebe Giannisi und Zissis Kotionis (Greece), Andrés Jaque / Office for Political Innovation (Spain), muf ar-chitecture/art (Great Britain), Ute Neuber (Austria)
The Haushaltsmesse is sponsored by the German Federal Cultural Foundation and the German Federal Agency for Civic Education / bpb.
More information on www.bauhaus-dessau.de