Situacionists

The Situationist Internationale (SI) was a transnational movement of artists and theorists who have exerted an ongoing and decisive influence on the European political and cultural scene since the sixties. Founded in 1957 by former members of avant-garde groups from France, England and Italy, the SI was a revolutionary cultural organisation that descended directly from Dada and Surrealism. Like other avant-garde movements before it, the SI operated on the boundary between art and politics. It challenged existing cultural conventions while promoting new forms of revolutionary action. But unlike its predecessors, it came very close to achieving its aim of merging art and revolution, as can be seen in its leadership of the riots of May 1968 in France and its lasting influence on radical utopian currents all over Europe, long after it disbanded in 1972.

Situationists emphasised the architectural and urban projects that the group carried out in its core geographical areas: Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Turin. It particularly focused on the grand project for a nomadic city designed by Situationist artist Constant, New Babylon, which was illustrated with mock-ups, maps, texts and other documents. The exhibition also included works by Guy Debord, Pinot Gallizio and Asger Jorn.