Hans Haacke: Show and tell

In response to the architecture of San Francesco and its frescos, Hans Haacke has chosen 3 works for this exhibition.

Wide White Flow of 1967 will dominate the central nave.

12 photographs of spontaneous plant growth, taken in an open-air courtyard of the Berlin Reichstag, will line the side naves.

The plants have sprouted at the seat of the German parliament in the artist's ongoing participatory project DER BEVÖLKERUNG (To the Population). This dedication to all residents of the country puts into perspective the exclusive and historically burdened inscription DEM DEUTSCHEN VOLKE (To the German People) on the building's façade. Before the Bundestag accepted this work in 2000 by a slim majority, the proposal had generated a heated, nation-wide debate. Since its inauguration 10 years ago, more than 280 Members of the Bundestag have contributed soil from their election districts.

In areas of the 17th century frescos of the apse, which, due to the ravages of time, are now blank, the artist will introduce continuously changing glimpses of Italy's contemporary corporate culture.

Hans Haacke
Show and tell