NEW INDUSTRIES FESTIVAL: Requiem for a Bank

The exhibition Requiem for a Bank examines new forms of industry, with a particular focus on the development of global financial markets since 1972 – a time when inflation, rising unemployment and successive oil crises combined with the emergence of new information technologies gave birth to a new kind of financial economy that was no longer dependent on real goods or services.

The artworks and projects in Requiem for a Bank visualise and comment on the development of financial markets, their modes of functioning, transformations in time and inherent weaknesses as well as the conceptions of money on which they are based. They are particularly interested in the consequences of the financialised economy on today’s working and living conditions, as financial value and the relationships between creditors and debtors are increasingly dominating all aspects of private and social life.

Another focus of the exhibition lies on various futuristic scenarios where digital media replace coins and paper money, global businesses merge with indebted Southern European countries, and governments are replaced by boards of administrators. Simultaneously, it outlines various democratic alternatives to the current economic systems.

Requiem for a Bank comprises works and projects by international artists from various disciplines such as media art, visual arts, performance and architecture. The exhibition is part of the NEW INDUSTRIES FESTIVAL by HMKV and is being presented jointly with the installation Zugunsten einer Gesellschaft von morgen, für die wir heute schon bauen (To the benefit of a society of tomorrow for which we build today) by artist Axel Braun. A programme of participatory performances will take place in Dortmund’s urban spaces.

Co-operation partner:

Urbane Künste Ruhr