The interdisciplinary festival of contemporary art steirischer herbst, based in Graz and Styria, Austria, is pleased to announce the publication of the catalogue of its 54th edition, The Way Out, as well as that of the accompanying reader The Way Out of….

Today’s institutions of contemporary visual art are sometimes working in a mode of imaginary participation, and strangely this suits both their idealistic and somewhat abstract aspirations and “real” uninitiated audiences, which tend to give these institutions a wide berth. This self-isolation represents a huge blind spot of contemporary art. The desire to work differently, to escape comfort zones and safe spaces, was the intention behind The Way Out, the 2021 edition of steirischer herbst. It presented a curatorial sketch for a way of working outside, outdoors, in public space, where the radical democratization of art’s accessibility is a horizon of thought and a goal to which artists and artworks might aspire, without necessarily flattening the complexity and contradictory character of reality they want to convey.

Richly illustrated with color images, the The Way Out catalogue documents the performances, interventions, TV reporting, and participatory art projects in public space and on theater stages which took place during the festival. A narrative alternative to images is curatorially built with literary texts, essays, and script excerpts by participating artists.

List of artists of The Way Out: Yael Bartana, Uriel Barthélémi with Sophie Bernado and Salomon Baneck-Asaro, Sophia Brous with Faye Driscoll, Samara Hersch, and Lara Thoms, Žiga Divjak, G.R.A.M., Emil Gruber, Felix Hafner and ensemble, Thomas Hirschhorn, Hiwa K, Dejan Kaludjerović in collaboration with Marija Balubdžić, Bojan Djordjev, and Tanja Šljivar, Flo Kasearu, Paul B. Preciado, Die Rabtaldirndln, Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping, Peter Schloss with Grupa Ee, Tino Sehgal, Marinella Senatore, Hito Steyerl and Mark Waschke, Theater im Bahnhof; Situation Reports by Lars Cuzner, Nicholas Grafia & Mikołaj Sobczak, Heimo Halbrainer and Joachim Hainzl (CLIO), Pia Hierzegger, Stefanie Sargnagel; posters by Nilbar Güreş, Hans Haacke, Horst Gerhard Haberl, Li Ran, Boris Mikhailov, Amanullah Mojadidi, Dana Sherwood, Mounira Al Solh, Piotr Szyhalski, Rosemarie Trockel

Published in parallel, the anthology The Way Out of… is a collection of essay texts written by contributors of the festival’s discussion program, with some additions. There are many spheres of our life, politics, and aesthetics that urgently require a perspective of a way out, from capitalism to bad sex. The authors are searching for ways out of intractable problems that have been long approaching but are now becoming as urgent as ever.

With contributions by Katherine Angel, Emma Dowling, Dorothea von Hantelmann, Thomas Hirschhorn, Hiwa K, Jason W. Moore, Evgeny Morozov, Paul B. Preciado, Quinn Slobodian, and Mark Terkessidis

Both publications were designed by the Ljubljana-based independent collective Grupa Ee (Mina Fina, Damjan Ilić, and Ivian Kan Mujezinović).

Ekaterina Degot and David Riff (eds.). The Way Out. Berlin: Hatje Cantz, 2022. ISBN 978-3-7757-5365-4. 21 × 27 cm. 208 pp. 80 ill. Hardcover. 44 EUR

Ekaterina Degot and David Riff (eds.). The Way Out of…. Berlin: Hatje Cantz, 2022. ISBN 978-3-7757-5366-1. 11.80 × 21.90 cm. 208 pp. Softcover. 24 EUR

Both books are now available wherever books are sold and can also be ordered via our webshop.