Press Kit (August 30th/31st, 2012) - Goldmann Public Relations ...

NEWTOPIA: The State of Human Rights
Contemporary Arts Exhibition in Mechelen and Brussels
01.09. – 10.12.2012
freedoms; participation in political life and the life of society; protection from
fear, want, abuse, exclusion; rights to personal, intellectual, emotional and
economical development. Human rights are guided by two main principles,
that people should not be maltreated; and that every person should be
given the chance to flourish and attain well-being.
Especially here in the West we seem to take our human rights for granted,
while some of these rights are now anything but guaranteed. The increasing
privatization of the former public services and utilities, the erosion of public
space, the gradual dismantling of the welfare state, the culture of fear and
surveillance consolidated in the name of ‘national security’ since 9/11 have
brought measures that have compromised basic democratic, civil and social
rights and are threatening the social safety net that is so important for any
society that wants to call itself 'civilised'. Regardless the geographical
perspective, human rights were, are, and will continue to be a universally
relevant issue.
NEWTOPIA also thus aims to challenge the one-dimensional stereotypes
associated with human rights as well as the 'negative' image they have in
terms of representation, which is a paradoxical and problematic situation as
the human rights movement aims for and effects positive change.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are both partners of the
exhibition.
MECHELEN, CONTEMPORARY CULTURE, AND HUMAN RIGHTS
NEWTOPIA is an initiative of the City of Mechelen and is supported by the
Council of Europe, the Flemish Community and the Province of Antwerp.
Since the success of the exhibition City in Women’s Hands in 2005, the City
of Mechelen has instigated a large-scale, international cultural event every
three years, this time particularly timed to coincide with the forthcoming
opening of the Kazerne Dossin – Memorial, Museum and
Documentation Centre on Holocaust and Human Rights, in November,
which will also host a NEWTOPIA project: a major installation by Lithuanian,
Paris-based artist Esther Shalev-Gerz. The exhibition proposed and
curated by Katerina Gregos is entirely in line with Mechelen’s ambition to
establish a profile for itself as a centre for contemporary art. At the same
time, NEWTOPIA – which emphasizes the timeless and universal aspect of
human rights – will aptly precede the opening of the new Kazerne Dossin
later in the year. The question of human rights thus remains relevant for the
city of Mechelen, in the time to come.
PUBLICATION
The catalogue published on the occasion of this exhibition, edited by
Katerina Gregos and Elena Sorokina, will be published by Ludion and
designed by BaseDesign, Brussels.
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