Hans Haacke: Mia san mia
(We Are Who We Are)
Publication to the exhibition from September to December 2001.
Ed. by Sabine Breitwieser. Preface by Dietrich Karner. Texts by Sabine Breitwieser, Hans Haacke, Christian Kravagna and Heidemarie Uhl.
In his first exhibition in Vienna, Hans Haacke focused on "a single problem area: how the country deals with its history and national identity. More than I care for, these questions stir up emotions both in Austria and Germany." To his mind, the works he had produced for Graz in 1988 and 1996 have, unfortunately, lost none of their relevance. lssues relating to the construction of identity were also evident in his project for the Reichstag building in Berlin, 1999. In the installation, Mia san mia (We Are Who We Are), developed especially for this exhibition, he took up this theme from another topical perspective.
These projects, as well as selected historical works, were presented in the pub lication in the form of texts and photographs. Two essays will discuss these works in a wider context. The book thus contributes to the then and still current discourse ("culture of memory"). Numerous writings by Haacke were made available in this publication in German and English for the first time.