Highlights from Luther and the Avantgarde

On the 500th anniversary of the Reformation—with celebrations stretching over four days at the end of May in Germany—the group show “Luther and the Avantgarde” was mounted in the Old Prison of Wittenberg, a town that is a 40-minute train ride from Berlin, and home to Protestant Reformation initiator Martin Luther. The artworks were displayed in renovated jail cells, hallways and staircases of the former prison, which has been modified to house the art exhibition. With the Protestant church as a major sponsor, the project takes a remarkably critical stance on the Reformation, and moves beyond the ecclesiastic into the sociocultural sphere: How can art reform today’s world?

With 69 artists from 21 countries, a large number of works that were on display are from the Asia-Pacific region: China, Indonesia and Turkey were all represented within the spectrum of artistic practices. This was because Stiftung für Kunst und Kultur eV, the foundation that organized the show, established a strong foothold as a facilitator of exhibitions showcasing Chinese art in Germany, garnering major media attention with the exhibition project “China 8” in 2015.