Art in transition and transition in art

A historical and a contemporary change of perspective: on July 25, the Ravensburg Art Museum opens two parallel exhibitions on groundbreaking works of art. In John Akomfrah. The Unfinished Conversation, visitors can look forward to an expansive film installation by the Ghanaian artist from 2012, in which he gives visual expression to his undogmatic thinking about social structures. The three-channel, 45-minute video installation combines archive material about Stuart Hall, an important cultural theorist and founder of cultural studies, with political events from around the world. Akomfrah's work makes it clear that identity and belonging are in a constant state of flux and are not static conditions.

In Under Pressure. Expressionist Printmaking, the Ravensburg Art Museum is devoting itself to an important modernist art movement. In their rebellion against academic traditions with subjective and expressive art, the artists of Expressionism found in printmaking a suitable medium to shake up the dominance of painting. The technical properties of various printing techniques conveyed a revolutionary character; the pictures were characterized by strong lines, simple forms and flat fields of color. Based on the museum's own collection, the show explains the importance of printmaking for the influential avant-garde movement. Works by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Erich Heckel are among those on display. Both exhibitions close on November 2.