The Art Prize Future of Europe is annually awarded since 2003. The prize worth 5.000 Euro has been brought into life by Matthias Brühl in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art. Five specialists were respectively asked to put forward three candidates. The final decision of the Award Winner is met by the jury appointed for the period of three years. The Prize is associated with an exhibition in the GfZK.
2022 Filipa César and Diana McCarty received the award. Together with Valentina Desideri, Denise Ferreira da Silva, Mark Waschke and students of the Merz Akademie, they developed the film There Is Always Dance In Abudance and the exhibition of the same name.
One of the consequences of our belief in the concept of unlimited growth is the continual depletion of our resources and those of the planet. By clinging on to this idea, we ignore the rights and needs of others and allow discrimination, exclusion and inequality to prevail. While we continue in our striving to produce and own more and more, we lose the ability to think about other forms of co-existence.
Using documentary and speculative means, the film There is Always Dance in Abundance develops an “ecology of the many”, based on the assumption that there are sufficient resources and living space for everyone, if we use them in a respectful way. The protagonists set off on a “journey through time”, exploring existing knowledge and experimenting with new forms of learning. Wearing vision devices and overalls equipped with leaves, feathers and respiratory tubes, they examine their environment, observe animals and plants, analyse the resilience of bodies and materials. They learn to sharpen their senses with the help of various exercises, testing their limits and vulnerability.
They hold discussions with theorists and trade unionists on the historic, current and future significance of work, investigate the emergence of ownership and the struggle for equality and common assets. Solidarity, community and sustainability play a central role in their filmic narrative.
There is Always Dance in Abundance has been shown as part of an expansive installation featuring workshops, exchange platforms and discussions.