Private Matter
Stefanie Kitzberger, Jenni Tischer 

The realization that the private is political has not lost any of its relevance in recent years, as current debates about domestic violence, the increasing economization of the private sphere, and demands for fair pay for care and nursing work all show. In contemporary fine art, in film and literature too, personal experiences and stories are increasingly the focuses for social and political critique. In an age in which identity politics is becoming a key component of our societies, social justice and the struggles of individuals for cultural recognition are thus no longer mutually exclusive.

In this conversation, the art historian Stefanie Kitzberger and the artist Jenni Tischer look at the different meanings of the two concepts of the private and the public, focusing their discussion on the film The Expulsion (2019) by the British artist Larry Achiampong, which is on show in the exhibition, and the film Nightcleaners (1972−1975) by the Berwick Street Film Collective. Both of these films show the precarious situation of black workers cleaning offices by night for primarily white employees. This discussion thus takes these works as an opportunity to address the political dimension of precarious labor in relation to origin and gender.