Based in Munich, visual artist Franziska Windolf works across media and in various social contexts, focusing on developing the performative possibilities of objects or collaborative installations often placed in public space. The artist will be in residence at the House of Art Ústí nad Labem this autumn.

Wednesday, October 23, 4:30 p.m., room 537

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Meet the Memory Person. Approaching Contemporary Monuments with a Handkerchief

The lecture will explore the intersections of contemporary and conventional public sculpture, identity, and public space. It will discuss how performative and poetic qualities in sculpture and other media can foster meaningful interactions, especially with audiences unfamiliar with the art world.

Traditionally, archives and monuments aim to preserve the past through static formats. While they typically focus on historical data, the Memory Person approaches these structures differently. It emphasizes emerging and diverse artistic expressions and narratives through a living, multi-personal public figure – a monument in the making. I want to explore the fictional identity of the Memory Person as it travels from Giesing, Munich, to Ústí nad Labem. The talk will delve into how this evolving public artwork, with its intended transformation and artistic mediation in public spaces, can connect to local memory and identity work. It will also explore how the history of the Sudetenland can be approached through previously underrepresented means and voices, such as those of individuals in multicultural artistic contexts. Ultimately, the project aims to build a flexible platform for encounter, discussion, and collaborative shaping of the Memory Person.

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Franziska Windolf (*1992)

Franziska Windolf is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the performativity of sculptural and social bodies, often in collaborative settings. She holds a Master’s degree in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art, London (2022) and HFBK Hamburg (2018). Franziska has exhibited internationally and received international awards and scholarships, including DAAD, Gilbert Bayes RCA Award, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, and other public institutions.

Website:https://assembliesofimaginatives.com/

https://www.memoryperson.com/de

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/meet_the_memory_person/

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The series of guest lectures is organized as part of the compulsory elective course KDT/844 Presentation of a Work of Art I. In the winter semester of the academic year 2024/2025, the lectures will take place in full-time attendance every Wednesday at 4.30 pm at the Faculty of Art and Design of Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem in room 537, with some exceptions. The lectures run from 9 October to 11 December 2024 and will always be individually announced on the faculty’s website and social networks. There will be ten lectures in total.

Graphic design by Adéla Bierbaumer