Jury + Vieille Ville

The Jury's Report

A sensible SSE (SPA) that would also be manageable for the visitor required a selection to be made from the approx. 800 registered works. Following a lengthy debate, the Jury realised that it would not be feasible to represent each registered artist by one work. Various criteria were therefore established, and submitted works divided into various groups.
Different benchmarks and evaluations were applied to each of the groups. The first group assembles works of various styles that might be designated as examples of "Classical Modernism". The second group consists of works which the Jury considered to be concerned with optical effects; these works lend a "show" character to the Exhibition. The third group unites works that represent new tendencies: young artists predominate; the focus is on new modes of expression rather than artistic maturity. The fourth group showcases "objects" and, finally, the fifth group is dedicated to works that make a special contribution to "art in the public realm".

The Medieval Town

The fact that the medieval town is illustrated here has a special significance: from the start, the exhibition design intended the squares and buildings of the medieval town to be more than a mere backdrop and stage-set to a modern exhibition, but for the architecture of bygone centuries itself to be recalled to present minds as an example of sophisticated design and an artistically valuable setting.
During a tour of the medieval town, it is well worth noting the lively sequence of façades, each one of which has its own features, but all of which nonetheless coalesce into a harmonious whole; appreciate the sense of what a square used to be like, with all the buildings oriented towards it; see what the squares have been turned into: car parks and cluttered areas which people can only negotiate with difficulty.

© Translation from German, July 2008: Margret Powell-Joss