{"id":2538,"date":"2021-10-18T14:47:53","date_gmt":"2021-10-18T12:47:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.anna-polke-stiftung.com\/?page_id=2538"},"modified":"2026-01-08T11:29:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T10:29:05","slug":"athanor-now","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.anna-polke-stiftung.com\/en\/athanor-now\/","title":{"rendered":"ATHANOR NOW"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sigmar-polke-athanor-now.com\">Sigmar Polke: Athanor NOW&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>40 years after the celebrated presentation of Sigmar Polke\u2019s\u00a0<em>Athanor<\/em>\u00a0installation in the German Pavilion at the 1986 Venice Biennale,\u00a0<em>Sigmar Polke: Athanor NOW<\/em>\u00a0reactivates this now-iconic constellation of works from current artistic and scholarly perspectives. The program focuses on topics such as ecology, alchemy, materiality, politics, and technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the occasion of the anniversary of Sigmar Polke\u2018s <em>Athanor <\/em>installation in the German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1986, the Anna Polke Foundation in Cologne is initiating an international, decentralized, and interdisciplinary research and education project. Under the direction of Dr. Kathrin Barutzki (Anna Polke Foundation) and in cooperation with numerous project partners worldwide <em>Sigmar Polke: Athanor NOW <\/em>reactivates this now-iconic constellation of works\u2014named after the alchemical furnace intended to yield the philosopher\u2019s stone via transformations of matter\u2014current artistic and scholarly perspectives. The program focuses on topics such as ecology, alchemy, materiality, politics, and technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In offering a fresh perspective on the particularly productive phase during the 1980s, the project expands the artist\u2019s reception as an alchemist. Artists and researchers from various disciplines will pick up on aspects of the historical constellation of Polke works and connect his engagement with diverse contexts and materials to current issues in practice and theory. Culture-historical approaches will thus be enriched by perspectives from literature and philosophy, the digital humanities, and the natural and technical sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through a major solo exhibition at the De Pont Museum in Tilburg, a summer school and numerous formats\u2014including guided tours and collection interventions, university courses and workshops, educational programs, podcasts and digital offerings\u2014the international year-long program reactivates works from the multilayered installation and related pieces within contemporary contexts. Situated between scholarly research, artistic interaction, and public discourse, <em>Sigmar Polke: Athanor NOW <\/em>traces the influences emanating from Polke\u2019s thinking and making, which\u2014forty years after the presentation in Venice\u2014acquire relevance today in the form of new constellations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For further information please visit the program <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sigmar-polke-athanor-now.com\" target=\"_blank\">website<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Project Team<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Kathrin Barutzki, Head of Research<br>barutzki@anna-polke-stiftung.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Elsa Wellmann-Gilcher, Research Associate and Project Assistant<br>wellmann-gilcher@anna-polke-stiftung.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>We thank the Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation, Zurich, for the generous support of the project.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sigmar Polke: Athanor NOW&nbsp; 40 years after the celebrated presentation of Sigmar Polke\u2019s\u00a0Athanor\u00a0installation in the German Pavilion at the 1986 Venice Biennale,\u00a0Sigmar Polke: Athanor NOW\u00a0reactivates this now-iconic constellation of works from current artistic and scholarly perspectives. The program focuses on topics such as ecology, alchemy, materiality, politics, and technology. On the occasion of the anniversary [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anna-polke-stiftung.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2538"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anna-polke-stiftung.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anna-polke-stiftung.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anna-polke-stiftung.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anna-polke-stiftung.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2538"}],"version-history":[{"count":78,"href":"https:\/\/www.anna-polke-stiftung.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4978,"href":"https:\/\/www.anna-polke-stiftung.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2538\/revisions\/4978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anna-polke-stiftung.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}