The Potosi Principle / Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin

The title of the exhibition The Potosí­ Principle at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of World Cultures) in Berlin refers to the silver-mining city Potosí­ that was the capital of the mining industry in Latin America from the 16th to the 18th century and is now the capital of the department of Potosí­ in Bolivia. Potosí­’s silver mines were the major supply of silver for Spain during the period of the New World Spanish Empire.

The show at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt addresses the relationships between trade and art transfers and economic structures and ways of thinking in Latin America and Europe and their social effects on both continents. Contemporary artists such as Harun Farocki and Ines Doujak respond to the images of the Andean Baroque with their own works.

The exhibition was previously shown at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofí­a in Madrid and will subsequently travel to the Museio Nacional de Arte and the Museo Nacional de Etnografí­a y Folklore in La Paz.

The Potosí­ Principle: How Can We Sing the Song of the Lord in an Alien Land? has been curated by Alice Creischer, Max Jorge Hinderer, and Andreas Siekmann. The exhibition is accompanied by an eponymous catalog and runs until January 1, 2011.

The Potosí­ Principle at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany. Opening, October 7, 2010.

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The exhibition features works and contributions by:
Sonia Abián (Barcelona/Posadas), Anna Artaker (Vienna), Monika Baer (Berlin), Quirin Bäumler (Berlin), Christian von Borries (Berlin), Matthijs de Bruijne (Amsterdam/Beijing), Chto delat (Moscow/St. Petersburg), Culture and Arts Museum of Migrant Workers (Beijing), CVA/TIPPA (London), Stephan Dillemuth (München)/Konstanze Schmitt (Berlin), Ines Doujak (Vienna), Elvira Espejo (La Paz), Marcelo Expósito (Barcelona/Buenos Aires), Harun Farocki (Berlin), León Ferrari (Buenos Aires), Marí­a Galindo/Mujeres Creando (La Paz), Isaí­as Grií±olo (Huelva), Luis Guaraní­ (La Paz), Sally Gutiérrez Dewar (Madrid), Zhao Liang (Beijing), Rogelio López Cuenca (Barcelona), Eduardo Molinari (Buenos Aires), PRPC (Plataforma de Reflexión sobre Polí­ticas Culturales, Sevilla), David Riff/Dmitry Gutov (Moscow), Territorio Doméstico (Madrid), The Long Memory of Cocaine research group (La Paz/London/Berlin).

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