In the context of the presence of political, social, and economic warfare, the world’s instability, we would like to base this year’s edition of SAW to ideas, radical practices, and ways of living, dealing with preservation of life and Peace, as a fundamental part of human existence.
Departing from the movement of the early 1900s up until 1940’s- Monte Verità meeting place for the life-reformers, pacifists, artists, writers, and supporters of various alternative movements. Monte Verità was originally the name of the local "nature healing sanctuary sun sanatorium". At one point, it was led by Rudolf Steiner, who called for ending of urban living, and left the cities with a group of disciples, going to the mountain to establish the new society. A utopian society, wishing to separate and reconnect to nature and free itself from the social demands and constrains of the growing tension and Nationalist movement in Europe at the time (history repeating a century later), and find autonomous ground for conviviality, sustainability, and holistic practices. After 1940 the place lost its importance.
In this attempt to build a utopian field for sharing and learning, we as a group recognise the power that lies in collective actions. By joining forces and nurturing a spirit of collaboration, we could foster a meaningful change in our world where every individual has the capacity to contribute in their own unique way. We view nature as the divine masterpiece and believe it cannot be reviled. The natural world commands respect and demands that we coexist harmoniously within its kingdom. One must listen, observe, and immerse oneself in it perplexity, for humanity is not independent of the wilderness, but stewards of this land that inspires so many artists. Art must attempt to reconcile the Anthropocene and its cataclysmic environmental consequences. It’s imperative that it challenges the commodification of art objecthood that only serves to broaden the exclusivity of the Art World. This is exacerbated by a prevailing elitism which caters solely to a commercialist ideology— therefore the artists in this show have chosen to embrace a practice that questions the notion of perpetually generated exhibitions. By producing artworks with pre-existing materials, they are striving for a zero-production economical design.
