![\"Andreas](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Andreas-Angelidakis-installation-view-of-68-blocks-of-ruins.-Courtesy-of-Documenta-14..jpeg\")
Andreas Angelidakis, installation view of 68 blocks of ruins. Courtesy of Documenta 14.<\/p>\nIn terms of contemporary art events, 2017 is set to be as crowded and unnavigable as an Italian airport on a strike day.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll have plenty to see in the next six to eight months. 2017 not only marks the return of Documenta, but also of the \u201cSkulptur Projekte M\u00fcnster\u201d. This occasion is notable for taking place every ten years in M\u00fcnster, one of the many small towns that dot Western Germany. Additionally, there’s also the\u00a0Venice Biennale, and obviously, Art Basel. Aside from that, keep in mind the eighty five other fairs, festivals, biennials and only-for-insiders experimental formats taking place in nearly every country of Europe between February and November. But don’t forget to inhale\u00a0and exhale deeply before calling your therapist in a panic.<\/p>\n
While all these events have contemporary art in common, by no means should you allow yourself to think they work the same way. Read below for a rookie\u2019s guide to the 2017 cultural season.<\/p>\n
Andreas Angelidakis, installation view of 68 blocks of ruins. Courtesy of Documenta 14.<\/p>\n
April 8 \u2013 July 16, 2017 May 13 \u2013 November 26, 2017<\/strong> \nLike Beyonc\u00e9 or Anna Wintour, the world\u2019s oldest biennial stands unconcerned by the rise of younger rivals. Its location has certainly helped with preserving the unshakable aura of glamour, taste and flamboyancy that makes it so unique. Curator Christine Macel titled this year\u2019s edition \u201cViva Arte Viva\u201d – which, while sounding like some awful Coldplay song, actually fits the mood of the event like custom Armani would on Sophia Loren. The Venice Biennale is a celebration of art, or should I say of the art world – bursting with VIPs, select parties and grandiose artworks, all topped off with a hint of intrigue. You\u2019ll have to practice your best \u201cDAAHLING!\u201d exclamation, learn to sell yourself as someone supremely relevant (to get into the parties) and accept you\u2019ll be spending way.too.much money on everything. But the rush of running for your last vaporetto through the Venetian night or to witness superb art world shenanigans will definitely be worth the sacrifices.<\/p>\n \n \n \n June 10 \u2013 September 17, 2017<\/strong> \nAs said above, the second – and main – part of the fourteenth Documenta unfolds itself in Kassel, \u201cThe Capital of the German Fairytale Route\u201d according to the city\u2019s website. This tagline should be enough of an indicator for you to understand that in Kassel, not much is happening when Documenta isn\u2019t either. The Fridericianum, the city\u2019s contemporary art Museum, serves as its main venue and is soon to be filled with a many many artworks you must claim to grasp in their encyclopaedic entirety. Good luck if you actually have the audacious plan to understand everything you\u2019ll be reading, seeing, hearing and saying. To stay sane, the best approach might be to play it local-style, as if you were a inhabitant of this quaint town who for the sake of politeness visits the show when it\u2019s on for a couple of hours, and then goes back to drinking beer in a kneipe<\/em>, like a real German would.<\/p>\n \n \n June 15 \u2013 18, 2017<\/strong> \nYour author cannot stress enough how pleasantly weird the vibe taking over the Swiss city during Art Basel is. For a week, a mixture of bespoke professionalism and loud attention-seeking takes over the town – often hand in hand with antediluvian amounts of rain. Dealers (of art and other goods) prepare themselves well in advance for thirsty collectors, greedy networkers and a swarm of uncanny characters, all here to make the best of their time and money. The city is so small that bumping into VIPs becomes inevitable. After the preview days, gallerists and collectors fall into a more relaxed state and start partying with less inhibition; a situation you should take advantage of, because you might suddenly find yourself sharing a cab with Johann K\u00f6nig or Hito Steyerl (an experience with high anthropological value). All in all, \u201cBasel Basel\u201d (as insiders like to call it) can be a highlight of which you will emerge absolutely broke, but very amused. Opening June 10, 2017<\/strong> \nThis one\u2019s a joker. M\u00fcnster, like Kassel, sounds like one of those typical German places where people iron their jeans. Yet Skulptur Projekte M\u00fcnster, founded and organised by the godfather of German curating, Kasper K\u00f6nig, has a rich history. Since its first edition in 1977, it has featured works by some of our times\u2019 most notable artists. The exhibition working mainly as a display of public art, perhaps this will be the most athletic of all the mentioned events? Given that you\u2019re deep in the German province, take the chance to buy a pair of solid, ugly orthopaedic shoes. You\u2019ll be able to walk around M\u00fcnster for every edition of the Skulptur Projekte for the next sixty years – those things last a lifetime. This might also be the occasion to go wild; if you feel like it, get yourself a wig, a fake accent and some eccentric manners and for a day or two, incarnate an updated version of yourself, or your complete opposite. Should the police interfere, you can still claim you\u2019re an adept of long-durational performance.<\/p>\n A rookie\u2019s guide to the 2017 cultural season<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44705,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11856,139],"tags":[6453,1546,6975,7524,4590,7525,1739,7526,1033,7527,3811,1238],"class_list":["post-44596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sleek-art","category-art","tag-adam-szymczyk","tag-art-basel","tag-athens","tag-basel","tag-biennale","tag-biennale-di-venezia","tag-documenta","tag-greece","tag-kassel","tag-skulptur-projekte-munster","tag-venice","tag-venice-biennale"],"acf":{"main_category":null,"legacy":"1","exclude_from_ads":null,"hero_title":null,"subtitle":null,"hero":null,"teasers":null,"facebook_image":null,"related_articles":null,"next_article":null,"sleek_card_focus":null,"content":null},"yoast_head":"\n
\n<\/strong>Documenta is a a large exhibition taking place every five years in the German town of Kassel. But the fourteenth edition will be split in two, with Athens hosting the first part of this major event. While Athens in April sounds like a charming trip, you might want to prepare yourself for ultra-cerebral performances in cramped warehouses instead of tsatsiki by the spoonful on an airy terrace. Of course one doesn\u2019t exclude the other, but do keep in mind that in theory, you are there to interrogate the urgency of artistic gestures as collective counter-measures to the bleakness of hyper-capitalism – or something like that – and not to flirt with a tanned Peloponnesian called Yorgos who smells like the Aegean sea and just offered you a shot of ouzo. Documenta is a serious affair for serious people who understand that reading untranslated German art criticism is a noble act worth the headache. But the Mediterranean frame and the talent of curator Adam Szymczyk (learn how to spell that!) will probably make for a more relaxed affair than expected.<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
<\/h3>\n
![\"American](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/American-Representative-Mark-Bradford.-Photo-by-Jay-L.-Clendenin.jpg\")
American Representative Mark Bradford. Photo by Jay L. Clendenin<\/p>\nVenice Biennale, Venice<\/h3>\n
![\"Documenta](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Documenta-Venue-.jpg\")
Documenta Venue. From http:\/\/u-in-u.com\/documenta\/<\/p>\nDocumenta, Kassel<\/h3>\n
![\"Art](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Art-Basel.jpg\")
Art Basel. Photo by Giovanni Sighele<\/p>\nArt Basel, Basel<\/h3>\n
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\n <\/p>\n![\"Peles](\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Peles_Empire_3D-Modell_Vorderansicht-1024x640.jpg\")
Peles Empire project sketch. Image courtesy M\u00fcnster Skulptur Projekte.<\/p>\nSkulptur Projekte M\u00fcnster<\/h3>\n
\n
\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"