CAFÉ ENDLAGER
On the occasion of the 24th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, the exhibition CAFÉ ENDLAGER was conceived as an artistic take on the nuclear debate. Under the artistic direction of Ralf Schmerberg, the project space opened with a focus on nuclear power and radioactive waste disposal. The exhibition addressed the ideologies that society disposes of when disposing of nuclear waste – beliefs, dreams, fantasies, fears, triumphs and tragedies.
Set up in a transformed retail space in the city center of Stuttgart, the temporary exhibition space showcased the various stages of nuclear energy production – from uranium mining to the final disposal – as well as the changing perception within society. Photographs, films and works of art presented the resistance of the 1970s and 80s, fuelled by disasters like Chernobyl, juxtaposed with the euphoria and propaganda of the previous decades.
A newspaper acting as playbill, exhibition catalogue and work of art in its own right complemented the exhibition. The project was part of a series of interventions in the public sphere conceived by Ralf Schmerberg in collaboration with the Mindpirates collective and enabled by Entega, distributor of sustainable energy.
Artists
Igor Kostin, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Groover Schrayer, Kate McPowell, Ben Heine, Tanja Selzer, Günter Zint, Kate Williams, Sylvester Koziolek, Anselmo Fox, Robert Polidori, Gregor Gaida, Manfred Kage, Oleg Veklenko, Yang Shaobin, Mindpirates und Susan Haas.
Curator
Carolla Dürr
Artistic director
Ralf Schmerberg (Mindpirates)