Unfair Trade: The Art of Justice

posted by Ismail Farouk at Friday, September 21, 2007

My 'Rock Sale' is showing at the Unfair Trade exhibition opening at the Neue Galerie in Austria this weekend. This is truly an exciting opportunity as 'Rock Sale' has never been exhibited before and I could not have asked for a better platform for my work.

The Unfair Trade Exhibition attempts to draw attention to fair trade, above all fair exchange. This exhibition on the subject of global "Un/fair Trade" does not only show art works dealing with this theme, but collaborates with scientists from the fields of economics, sociology and cultural theory. In addition to the curated works, the exhibition also boast an online component. Participants are invited to contribute thoughts, opinions and art work on the subject of "Un/fair Trade" on the Net. At the same time, these texts, opinions and art works will be projected into the museum. Hence, every online visitor becomes a participant and artist in the exhibition.

The show boasts a star studded line up including works by fellow South African Andrew Tshabangu as well works by one of my favorite artists of all time Santiago Sierra. The organisers of the exhibition also intend to host a series of panel discussions and interviews with the aim of producing content in the area of fair trade and with the consideration of the following world renowned individuals:

Joseph Stiglitz (economist, Nobel prizewinner 2001), Amartya Sen (economist, Nobel prizewinner 1998), Branko Milanovic (economist, World Bank), gnacio Ramonet (Le Monde diplomatique), Paul Krugman (economist), Michael Walzer (philosopher), Martha Nussbaum (philosopher), Saskia Sassen (sociologist, economist), Jean-Pierre Boris (journalist, author of '(Un)fair trade'), Georg Gruber (Managing Director of FairTrade Austria), Bernhard Mark-Ungericht (business economist; specialist in corporate governance)