The 2017 edition of SPM — its fifth — will bring together 35 artists, artist duos and artist groups, hailing from Europe, Africa and South America, and will run from June 10 through October 1. This year’s theme is “Out of Body, Out of Time, Out of Place” — also the titles of three reviews anticipating the festival, the last one of which will be published later this year.
Big names such as Pierre Huyghe (France), Hito Steyerl (Germany), Gregor Schneider (Germany), and Nicole Eisenman (France) are making their debut at this year’s edition, whilst renowned artists Thomas Schütte (Germany) and Jeremy Deller (UK), who have participated in past editions of the festival, will return this year. Other newcomers for 2017 include Barbara Wagner (Brazil), Katharina Stöver (Germany), Michael Dean (UK) and Lara Favaretto (Italy).
Schütte, who had participated in 1987 and 2007, has revealed plans to create a new take on his work Kirschensäule (Cherry Column) which was featured at the second edition of the festival and has become Münster Sculpture Projects’ signature work. Turkish artist Ayşe Erkmen will contribute with the construction of an underwater bridge across the city’s harbour, whilst the Romanian artist Alexandra Pirici is investing an historical site — the city’s Hall of Peace, where the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia was signed — with dancers, dance having previously featured in her work in a number of ways.
Kasper König (photo: Arne Wesenberg), Britta Peters (photo: Hubertus Huvermann) and Marianne Wagner (photo: Dominik Büttner)
For the first time in its 40-year history, the festival is also partnering with another city this year. The 2017 edition of Münster Sculpture Projects will also take place in the nearby city of Marl, which will host public sculptures, a museum exhibition and a writer-in-residence program.
The event was created in 1977 following the controversial installation of George Rickey’s sculpture Drei rotierende Quadrate in a small park off Münster’s Engelenschanze. Following public outcry from the city’s inhabitants, Klaus Bussmann, then director of Westfälisches Landesmuseum in Münster, and Kasper König, curator at Museum Ludwig at the time, decided to create the event as a way of bridging understanding about art in public spaces.
Here is the full list:
Ei Arakawa (1977 — Fukushima)
Aram Bartholl (1972 — Bremen)
Nairy Baghramian (1971 — Isfahan, Iran)
Cosima von Bonin (1962 — Mombasa, Kenya)
Andreas Bunte (1970 — Mettmann)
Gerard Byrne (1969 — Dublin)
Camp: Shaina Anand (1975 — Mumbai) & Ashok Sukumaran (1974 — Hokkaido, Japan)
Michael Dean (1977 — Newcastle)
Jeremy Deller (1966 — London)
Nicole Eisenman (1965 — Verdun)
Ayşe Erkmen (1949 — Istanbul)
Lara Favaretto (*1973 Treviso)
Hreinn Fridfinnsson (1943 — Bær í Dölum, Island)
Monika Gintersdorfer (1967 — Lima, Peru) & Knut Klaßen (1967 — Münster)
Pierre Huyghe (1962 — Paris)
John Knight (1945 — Los Angeles)
Xavier Le Roy (1963 Juvisy sur Orge, — France) & Scarlet Yu (1978 — Hong Kong)
Justin Matherly (1972 — New York)
Sany (Samuel Nyholm) (1973 — Lund, Schweden)
Christian Odzuck (1978 — Halle)
Emeka Ogboh (1977 — Enugu, Nigeria)
Peles Empire: Barbara Wolff (1980 — Fogarasch, Ungarn) & Katharina Stöver (1982 — Gießen)
Alexandra Pirici (1982 — Bukarest)
Mika Rottenberg (1976 —Buenos Aires)
Gregor Schneider (1969 — Rheydt)
Thomas Schütte (1954 — Oldenburg)
Nora Schultz (1975 — Frankfurt/Main)
Michael Smith (1951— Chicago)
Hito Steyerl (1966 — München)
Koki Tanaka (1975 — Tochigi)
Oscar Tuazon (1975 — Seattle)
Joelle Tuerlinckx (1958 — Brussel)
Cerith Wyn Evans (1958 — Llanelli-Wales)
Herve Youmbi (1973 — Bangui, Zentralafrika)
Barbara Wagner (1980, Brasilia) & Benjamin de Burca (1975 — München)
