MOVE: Art and Dance since 1960s

“Move: Art and Dance Since 1960s” explores the interaction between art and dance from the late 1950s to the present. The main focus of the exhibition is on visual artists, dancers and choreographers who create sculptures and installations that directly affect the movements of exhibition-goers, turning spectators into active participants – perhaps even dancers.

In works from the 1960s and ’70s by artists like Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman, Lygia Clark and Franz West, sculptures or installations guide sequences of movement. These works – made during a historic moment of dialogue between visual artists and dancers – intensify the relationship of the body to its surroundings, heightening viewers’ self-awareness and their perception of gravity and balance. More recently, artists such as Mike Kelley, Pablo Bronstein and TinoSehgal have exploited choreography to focus on or mirror socio-political structures and mechanisms of manipulation. In their works, choreography becomes an analogy for the external powers that control the physical, psychological and spatial aspects of our actions.

In its layout and contents, Move encourages visitors to perform certain movements and so in effect to be choreographed themselves. Viewers are invited to engage physically with most of the works and to discover, through thoughtful participation, a new awareness of the bodily self and of sensory and imaginative perception.

The installations and sculpture which form the nucleus of Move are complemented by programmes of live dance. Some of these are woven into the exhibition itself, whilst others take place as separate events. An interactive digital ARCHIVE, located at various points within the exhibition, documents other dance events, performances and happenings – a crucial part of the relationship between the visual arts and dance since the late 1950s. This contextual ARCHIVE offers visitors opportunities to explore the history of art and dance in an individual, active and playful way.