For Mondays #5, Silke Wagner + Merle Radtke: münsters GESCHICHTE VON UNTEN

The Kunsthalle Münster not only is responsible for the exhibition programme in the premises on Hafenweg, but also oversees the collection of artworks in public spaces owned by the City of Münster. A large part of this collection traces back to the Skulptur Projekte, which have been staged in Münster every ten years since 1977. In the scope of this exhibition format, internationally renowned artists are invited to realize works of art in the urban space. Artistic contributions could be purchased following each issuance and thus remain permanently in the city. Since 2010 the City is also in possession of Silke Wagner’s sculpture münsters GESCHICHTE VON UNTEN, created for the skulptur projekte münster 07. After extensive discussions the sculpture has found its place on the Promenade, Münster’s green belt, where – interrupting a row of war memorials – it draws attention to Paul Wulf (1921–1999), an activist and victim of the Nazi regime. In an interview with Merle Radtke, the artist tells us all about what the title of the work refers to, which role the Umweltzentrum-Archiv and the Friends of Paul Wulf play and why the sculpture had to change its location.

Silke Wagner (born in 1968) is interested in subject matter related to an activation of the public sphere and thus creates offers for communication and interaction with her projects. Via her works, she likewise examines social developments and questions their underlying historical constructs. In recent years, Silke Wagner has been represented in numerous group exhibitions, including Kunst Haus Wien (2010), Sprengel Museum Hannover (2008) and ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe (2008), and has shown her work in various solo exhibitions, including Neue Berliner Kunstverein (2022/2008), Kunstverein in Hamburg (2010), kunstraum münchen (2004), Kunstverein Heilbronn (2002) and Salzburger Kunstverein (2001). In 2007, Silke Wagner received the Maria Sybilla Merian Prize from the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art and took part in the skulptur projekte münster 07.

Merle Radtke (born in 1986) is an art historian and cultural anthropologist working as a curator and author. She has been director of the Kunsthalle Münster since July 2018. Previously, she worked as a curator for the Hamburger Kunsthalle, the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart and the Jürgen Becker Galerie, among others. From 2015 to 2017, she was a member of the post graduate programme Aesthetics of the Virtual at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts (HfbK). This was followed by a research stay in Japan as a scholarship holder of the Villa Kamogawa/Goethe-Institut Kyoto. Merle Radtke regularly publishes texts on contemporary art and culture. Her work focuses on the practice and theory of the internet, (post-)digital art practices and feminist art as well as questions concerning the relationship between original, copy and simulation. At Kunsthalle Münster she realized, among others, the solo exhibitions of Mary Beth Edelson (2018), Christiane Blattmann (2019), Katia Kameli (2020), Daniel Steegmann Mangrané (2020) and Mikołaj Sobczak (2022), along with the group exhibitions Sensing Scale (2021), ton not. not ton (2021) and Nimmersatt? Imagining Society without Growth (2021).

For Mondays is a production by Kunsthalle Münster. Concept: Merle Radtke. Editing and coordination: Artefakt Kulturkonzepte, Jana Bernhardt and Merle Radtke. Production: Bela Brandes. Introduction: Arne Lenk. Graphic design: JMMP – Julian Mader and Max Prediger.

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