About
Monday Begins on Saturday is the title of the first edition of Bergen Assembly, and takes the form of an international exhibition, publication, and symposium.It is a critical meditation on the potentials and pitfalls of the evermore ubiquitous yet at the same time elusive notion of “artistic research.” The project takes its title from a novel by Soviet sci-fi writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky about a fictitious research institute staffed by a motley assemblage of fairytale beings and mad scientists who are trying to solve the problem of human happiness through magic. The first edition of Bergen’s new triennial is an oblique contemporary re-writing of this text as a multi-venue exhibition and book. The exhibition is accompanied by a publication, a print version of the curatorial montage with newly commissioned and anthologized theoretical, literary, and artistic texts and contributions. In keeping with the concept of the overall project, the boundary between the exhibition and book is similarly fluid. An international symposium featuring artists ́ talks and panel discussions with the project’s contributors also takes place during the opening days of Bergen Assembly.
Contributing researchers include: Aeron Bergman & Alejandra Salinas Christian von Borries, Olga Chernysheva, Chto Delat, Keti Chukhrov, Carlfriedrich Claus, Lars Cuzner & Fadlabi, Josef Dabernig, Stephan Dillemuth, Dora García, Pedro Gómez-Egaña, Boris Groys, Inti Guerrero, Ane Hjort Guttu, Dmitry Gutov, Jan Peter Hammer, Francis Hunger, IRWIN, Kiluanji Kia Henda, Yuri Leiderman & Andrey Silvestrov, Jumana Manna & Sille Storihle, Ivan Melnychuk & Oleksandr Burlaka—Grupa Predmetiv, Eduardo Molinari—Archivo Caminante (in collaboration with Azul Blaseotto, Ana Broccoli, Ala Plástica, Hernán Cardinale), Anna Oppermann, Uriel Orlow, Our Literal Speed, Pavel Pepperstein, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Roee Rosen, Ada Rybachuk & Volodymyr Melnychenko, Renata Salecl, Konstanze Schmitt, Benedict Seymour, Andreas Siekmann & Alice Creischer, Maxim Spivakov, Imogen Stidworthy, Władisław Strzemiński, Pelin Tan & Anton Vidokle, Mariusz Tarkawian, Minze Tummescheit & Arne Hector—cinéma copains, Urban Fauna Laboratory, Dimitri Venkov (in collaboration with Antonina Baever), Jan Verwoert, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Wong Men Hoi.
