Untitled Original

In the GAK’s 2017 exhibition Dejima. Concepts of In- and Exclusion, Anca Munteanu Rimnic presented a number of white glazed ceramic forms that fit together like a puzzle and create a carpet when assembled. In an era marked by Brexit and Trump, protectionism and the rise of the right-wing German political party AfD, the work offers an alternative proposal for social-national coexistence: an image in which every component of a whole defines an individual and justifies its uniqueness, but becomes more visible and multifaceted in community with other forms.

Rimnics’ Jahresgabe for the GAK draws from these ideas through a reworking of five of her carpet shapes. They are now independent elements but still possess the quality of being one of many parts. As individual pieces, they fall somewhere between abstraction and representation and elude clear-cut labels: Are they art objects or craft and as such, useful as paperweights or coasters?