Mind the gap between rhetoric and reality in provision of public spaces: where does the arts fit?

TRACING THE TRACKS marks rum46’s 25th anniversary as an exhibition space with a series of exhibitions during 2020. On the basis of five previous rum46 projects we are providing a thematic inspiration and historical guided framework for 25 contributors divided into 5 exhibitions.This second exhibition refers to the project public space & rhetoric which took place in 2009-2011. From Friday Aug. 14th 2020 Tanja Nellemann Kruse (DK), Ditte Lyngkær Pedersen (DK), Thorbjørn Reuter Christiansen (DK), Niklas Wallenborg (S) and Katarzyna Kosmala (PL/SCT) show new art works, text and sound productions reflecting the theme and project.TRACING THE TRACKS takes its starting point in our archive of long-term exhibition projects. Here we find themes that we think are still relevant today - and therefore important to debate, comment and reflect in a forward-looking perspective. rum46’s history and archive contains a long list of social and political engaged thematic exhibition projects where themes like hospitality, solidarity, democracy, alternative economies, working conditions, how we communicate in public space and imagined futures have been on the agenda over the years.For any exhibition that opens or a discursive event that takes place physically or more likely digitally now, especially when we address the issues of democracy, urbanism and participation, we start to think about how to shape and change the relations with other people and how to share and occupy the public space differently. What is the future of participative urbanism in the era of global capitalism? How can we account for the local, the other, and community voice? To unpack these questions, it is important to consider from the outset the uses of language.