Yael Bartana

An utopia is the design of a possible, usually fictitious way of life in the future that is not bound to conventional historical or cultural ways of reading. The ideas described in utopias often result from a criticism of the current social order and can be read as positive counter- designs The opposite of utopia is dystopia, the pessimistic description of an unethically negative social order in the future. In 2021, Yael Bartana's titel for her solo exhibition at the Jewish Museum in Berlin and a neon work created in this context called for 'Redemption Now!', asking for a possible present without the burdens of the past. For the exhibition title at the Weserburg and the neoj of the same name, the artist is going one step further in view of the current global crises. 'Utopia Now!' is aimed at the future and emphasizes the urgency of finally doing things differently and better. Bartana thus formulates a clear need for action in the present ('now!') - the overcoming of global crises cannot be postponed indefinitely if we do not want to miss the chance of a better future and end up in dystopia.