Manifesta purposely strives to keep its distance from what are often seen as the dominant centres of artistic production, instead seeking fresh and fertile terrain for the mapping of a new cultural topography.
Tamara Grčić, DE
Tamara Grčić, Cages, 1996. Photo © Manifesta 1 / Jannes Linders.
In this installation the German artist Tamara Grcic explored the tension between nature and culture. Suspended from the ceiling in the entrance of the Natural History Museum were four huge pallets packed with hundreds of empty wooden crates, a loading construction typically used in Rotterdam’s cargo harbour. After the biennial, the crates were burned in a large bonfire at Maasvlakte, a massive human-made extension of the Port of Rotterdam.