It is hard to touch the real 2

"Es ist schwer das Reale zu berühren" (It is hard to touch the real) is an archive which includes more than 100 video works by 60 artists for whom the notion of the "documentary" provides an important subject of investigation. Documentarism is one of the most prevalent approaches to video making in contemporary art. It is based on the notion of directly confronting the viewer with a reality or an event which appears to exist independently of the documentary's ability to mediate information. The artists involved in It is hard to touch the real both embrace documentarism and question it in various ways.

It is hard to touch the real was originally made up of two phases that built on each other: a series of monthly monographic screenings at Kunstverein München spaced over two years in 2002-2003 and two 3-day festivals which took place in February 2003 and March 2004 respectively. The artists invited to show their work in the monthly screenings then in turn invited five other artists to the festival program. Thus through a process of sub-curating and within the framework of the festivals, a series of programs were screened to illuminate the theme from different angles. Most of the videos appearing in the screenings as well as in the festivals are now part of this archive.

The artists doing screenings were: Gitte Villesen (Copenhagen/Berlin), Nina Könnemann (Hamburg), Johanna Billing (Stockholm), Ursula Biemann (Zurich), Oliver Ressler (Vienna), Ruth Kaaserer (Vienna), Annika Eriksson (Stockholm/Berlin), Mari Laanemets & Killu Sukmit (Tallin/Berlin), Esra Ersen (Istanbul), Marion von Osten (Zurich/Berlin), Isa Rosenberger (Vienna), Olivier Zabat (Paris), Solmaz Shabazi (Teheran/Stuttgart) & Tirdad Zolghadr (Teheran/Zurich) and Hito Steyerl (Berlin).

This event is generously supported by the Goethe Institut Stockholm.

It is hard to touch the real 2
Videoarchive from Kunstverein München
Organisation / Auswahl: Sören Grammel, Maria Lind

Künstler: Gitte Villesen, Nina Könnemann, Johanna Billing, Ursula Biemann, Oliver Ressler, Ruth Kaaserer, Annika Eriksson, Mari Laanemets & Killu Sukmit, Esra Ersen, Marion von Osten, Isa Rosenberger, Olivier Zabat, Solmaz Shahbazi & Tirdad Zolghadr, Hito Steyerl ...

Stationen:
07.02.03 - 09.02.03 Kunstverein München / 1. Festival
05.03.04 - 07.03.04 Kunstverein München / 2. Festival
19.10.04 - 06.11.04 Site Gallery, Sheffield
01.04.05 - 17.04.05 Yeans Göteborg
03.06.05 - 03.07.05 UKS Young Artists Society, Oslo
01.04.06 - 29.04.06 Grazer Kunstverein, Graz