21/08/2023, 8:00 pm,

Screening of the Trilogy Ahnen + Artist Talk with Zauri Matikashvili

, Schloßtheater

In the context of the exhibition Off the Pedestals, filmclub münster will be showing Zauri Matikashvili’s trilogy Ahnen (Ancestors, 2019). Subsequent to the screening there will be an artist talk with Zauri Matikashvili.

Externsteine, Wewelsburg, Hermannsdenkmal: Based on these three historical sites in East Westphalia-Lippe, Zauri Matikashvili examines both the uses and instrumentalization of history in his film trilogy Ahnen (Ancestors). In the three films, each of which centres on one of the sites, the artist presents a broader perspective by letting various people talk about their views and experiences. Although the visitors differ fundamentally in terms of their background, mindset and convictions, all share a sense of being (deeply) connected in their own way to the prehistory of the respective sites: historians look for facts, esoterics perceive places of power, neo-Nazis are convinced that they can find a connection to the “primordial German” and the ancient Germanic peoples. This leads us to overarching questions of the effectiveness of historical influence: who identifies with the prehistory of these localities—and why?

The places and monuments selected by Matikashvili were—or for parts of society still are—of great importance regarding the origins of German culture, which were also misappropriated or glorified by the National Socialists. While at the Externsteine (Part 1) archaeologists dug for the roots of the Germanic world tree Irminsul during the Nazi era, an idea esoterics still adhere to today, the Wewelsburg (Part 2) has a direct connection to the “Third Reich”. Under Heinrich Himmler, the castle was converted into a central location for the SS, so that even today it attracts visitors from right-wing or völkisch-esoteric circles who see the historical site as an ideological reference point and place of pilgrimage. The Hermann Monument (part 3), built between 1838 and 1875, is a national monument commemorating the victory of the Germanic over the Romans. Symbolizing the struggle for freedom and independence, the stories told tend to mix historical facts with myths of national heroes and German genuineness. Thus, in Matikashvili’s trilogy, an oscillating mosaic of uses of history emerges, positioned somewhere between an attractive excursion destination and the esoteric and/or patriotic convictions of a—sometimes dangerous—ancestor of higher meaning.

Zauri Matikashvili (b. in Kvareli, Georgia) lives and works in Amsterdam and Münster. He studied fine arts in Münster and Düsseldorf. In his films and performances, he questions socio-cultural and political contexts of different societies and nations exerting influence on the identity construction of individual realities. Fluctuating between observation, testimony, (media-based) creation and deliberate provocation, his work focusses on people who hardly receive any attention. Zauri Matikashvili’s works have been shown in many solo and group exhibitions, at the Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam (2023), Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris (2022), Internationale Kurzfilmtage, Oberhausen (2022), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof (2021), Münster Film Festival (2021), HMKV, Dortmund (2021), PACT Zollverein, Essen (2020), Sammlung Philara in cooperation with Filmwerkstatt, Düsseldorf (2020), LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur, Münster (2020), Theater im Pumpenhaus, Münster (2018), Skulptur Projekte Münster (2017) and Kunstverein Gelsenkirchen (2016), among others. He is currently a resident at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam (2022–2024), having previously held residencies at Cité Internationale des Arts Paris (2022) and PACT Zollverein in Essen (2021).

The event takes place in German.
Entrance fee: 8 euros / 5 euros (reduced)