From the UrbanArt Biennale 2024 in Völklingen – A critical reflection by IRXNSCHMOIZ
Is this art, or can it go away?! This biting, sarcastic, mocking, always rhetorical question that can also be found at the URBAN ART BIENNALE 2024 in Völklingen/Saar can or should be thrown into the wide space more often, is through the Organizers themselves, some artist performers, and remarkably also by the city administration as well surprised property owner and – who is surprised? – also by an ignorant, cultureless mob, who may be marauding through this city has already been clearly answered in advance – in all clarity, through facts: A large number of the announced exhibits were – just 16 weeks after opening or 11 weeks before the official end of the event – no longer available, “gone”: removed, painted over, partially or completely destroyed or not visible. The question that was asked provocatively at the beginning was… The answer is clear in many places: no longer there = no art! This affected both exhibits in nearby urban areas as well as those within the protected hut area!! The questioning of recognizability contemporary art, as well as the appreciation of some works, was made available to visitors here answered passerby and nonchalantly.
“The Urban Art Biennale at the Völklingen Ironworks World Heritage Site is one of the largest exhibitions of works in the world this anarchic art form beyond conventional white cube aesthetics. Since 2011 it has been every two years the entire area of the Völklinger Hütte becomes a congenial dialogue partner for the art that emerges from Street art and graffiti. In 2024, the focus will be on political in-situ work, particularly on participatory work Urban art projects.” – says the advertising flyer for the 2024 Biennale. But what a shame! Already on the evening before my first day of visiting, using the remaining hours of the arrival day to look at and document some of the exhibits outside the hut area I have a visual fiasco. A visual highlight – the representation of the cottage chimney as an oversized one Cigarette: almost completely destroyed due to weather (THE WA); in front of the entrance to the hut Roughly assembled frame with tattered text panels, the whole thing looks like it’s being picked up for bulky waste placed at the door (ENSAS), no one cares. Almost all of the Völklingen posters, keys, curtains and stencils All chronicles in the nearby urban area were partially or completely demolished or missing or dismantled or probably quickly painted over again by the house owner (GESELLSCHAFT DER STADTWANDERER).
In 2023, half a year after the end of the 6th Biennale, some exhibits were no longer available, dismantled, dismantled; The ravages of time, decay, and decline have gnawed away at a number of older works, that is specific to this art form. But OK, that’s to be accepted long after completion shows up there at the Biennale. Nevertheless, I was still satisfied at the end of my first trip in 2023. But can this state of destruction, of non-existence, also be accepted in the middle of time and during the duration of the event? Definitely no! The artwork “Always right” by GEN ATEM & MIRIAM BOSSARD, a graffiti created with charcoal: washed away, located within a large construction site, therefore official not accessible! An almost six-month event with short-lived exhibits. The termination after just one week would have been honest.
One has to blame the organizers for not caring about the condition of their exhibits and for including exhibits in the catalog that were already completely hidden from view at the 6th Biennale due to high vegetation. Like the artworks „Chrystal“ by YZ or „The Beekeeper“ by CASE. Was it necessary to keep the number of exhibits high, at least on paper? Allegedly. The inclusion of the GESELLSCHAFT DER STADTWANDERER in the exhibition turned out to be a complete disaster. Apparently, after the artist collaboration was nominated, those responsible for the factory area no longer cared about its oeuvre, its existence and documentation. If you can read about your own destroyed works in the sparse descriptions of the works at the start of the Biennale, this poor condition was already known to everyone involved. Nobody thought of the need to remove these rudimentary or missing works from the program at the beginning of the Biennale. The Völklinger Hütte probably did not see itself as responsible for this troop’s offer. “We take the freedom to intervene in the city, we try not to commit vandalism, our interventions can be reversed at any time,” says MATHIEU TREMBLIN. The works of the GESELLSCHAFT DER STADTWANDERER can be discovered during the Biennale in Völklingen city center. Since a large part of the interventions were “undone” during the event, in some cases even before the start of the exhibition, this leads us back to the answer to the original question (see above). Those responsible for the Völklinger Hütte have to accept the accusation of having tolerated and promoted illegal actions in the city and vandalism.
What struck me as particularly negative when preparing for the trip was that even 10 weeks after the start of their offer, the curators had not managed to provide coherent and complete information about the works. The site plan (course) was fiddled with until the middle of the exhibition until it finally “got right”. Many descriptions of the works of art were not available for a long time or were modified several times much later, although around 35% of the works come from older biennales and were “warmed up” again. Links to the artists often went nowhere (file directories were changed twice), QR codes led to completely incorrectly programmed websites or to the exhibits of a parallel exhibition (Man & Ming). The impression that one of the “world’s largest exhibitions of works” was either knitted with a red-hot needle or that beginners were at work whose botch was only discovered many weeks after the opening of the Biennale is quite obvious. The “condition” of many exhibits also shows a lack of interest and sense of responsibility on the part of the organizers. This disastrous performance at the time of my travel planning confirmed my great doubts about even making my way from northern Germany to this outlying area of the Federal Republic after 2023. If the unique graffiti special exhibition “Illegal” and two other special exhibitions (Man & Mining; Rémy Markowitsch. We all [Except the Others]) weren’t taking place in Saarbrücken at the same time, all of them would turn out to be worthwhile , I would never have been able to enjoy this embarrassment. I would have been happy to do without it. Quel fiasco! 2026 can only get better. – Irxnschmoiz
Artworks from the Urban Art Biennale 2024 sorted by artists
ALKSKO – „Mixed Memory“
ANTONIO GALLEGO – „Les demeures premières“ – „Paste Up Photo Series“ – on site & around Völklingen
ANTONIO GALLEGO – „Antike Eitelkeiten“ – on site
ANTONIO GALLEGO – „Antike Eitelkeiten“ – around the city
ARAM BARTHOLL – „This is fine“
BAPTISE DEBOMBOURG & DAVID MARIN – „Marx“
BENJAMIN DUQUENNE – „Regenera“
BENJAMIN IRRITANT – „We want our Planet back“
BRAD DOWNEY – „Flat Glo“
COCO BERGHOLM – „Key Moments“
COCO BERGHOLM – „Key Moments“ – city area
COCO BERGHOLM – „Reverse Graffiti – Overgrown“ – city area
COCO BERGHOLM – „Reverse Graffiti – Recover“ – city area
COCO BERGHOLM – „Glitch“ – city area
COCO BERGHOLM – „Glitches“ – city area
DEANA KOLENČIKOVÁ – „Völklingen’s Lamp“
DEANA KOLENČIKOVÁ – „Childhood“ – city area
DEANA KOLENČIKOVÁ – „Le Labyrinthe“ – city area
DEANA KOLENČIKOVÁ – „Do not die“ – city area
DNLM – „I can not even think about Art“
E1000 – “Tenemos miedo a las nubas”
ENSAS – „Organes industriels / Entités naturelles“
EPOS 257 – „Map of the Ghost Block“
HIGH ON TYPE – „The Shrine of Oblivion“
IAN STRANGE – „49.256180,6.824125“
IPIN – „Forkliftography #4“
IPIN – „The Cornerstone“
ISAAC CORDAL – „Sleepwalker“
KENNETH LETSOIN & KRISTA BURGER – on site – „Glanzfeld“
KENNETH LETSOIN & KRISTA BURGER – Rathaus 33
KITRA – “Structure of Liberty”
LOR-K – „Images de marques“
MARDI NOIR – „Finger weg!“
MATHIEU TREMBLIN – „Völklinger Chronicles“ – on site
MATHIEU TREMBLIN – „Völklinger Chronicles“ – around the city
MATTEO FLUIDO – „Castelli in Voelklingen“
MOSES & TAPS – „Anti-Graffiti-Folie“
ONNO POIESZ – „True Colours“
OTTO BAUM – „Momentum“
OX – „Obus Gothique“
RALPH ROELSE – „My Landscape“
ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS – „Deus ex Machina“
SÉBASTIEN PRESCHOUX – „Guzra“
STEPHEN BURKE – „Galv Fountain“
WANDERLUST SOCIAL CLUB – City Area – „Minimuralism Gruppenportrait“
WANDERLUST SOCIAL CLUB – City Area – „FC Saarbrücken Ultras“
WANDERLUST SOCIAL CLUB – City Area – „Flohmarkt auf dem Globus Parkplatz“
WANDERLUST SOCIAL CLUB – City Area – „Der Treffpunkt für die Jugend in Völklingen“
WANDERLUST SOCIAL CLUB – City Area – „Le SV Röchling Völklingen 06 cherche des sponsors“
WANDERLUST SOCIAL CLUB – City Area – „Germain Ipin und Antonin halten das ‚Sandkorn‘ von Vladimír Turner„
WANDERLUST SOCIAL CLUB – City Area – „Greta Garbo“
THE WA – „Torches of Freedom“
VLADIMÍR TURNER – Installation – „Mock Up“
VLADIMÍR TURNER – Video Performance – „Dead Man“
INFOTHEK
World Cultural Heritage & Art Space: VÖLKLINGER HÜTTE
Annual Event: URBAN ART BIENNALE
Website: https://voelklinger-huette.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WeltkulturerbeVoelklingerHuette
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voelklinger_huette
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kommunikationvh
Völklinger Hütte Main Page: https://vagabundler.com/germany/voelklinger-huette
Photographer: IRXNSCHMOIZ
Hashtag: #irxnschmoiz
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kampagne24
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