With the Video-Forum, n.b.k. holds the oldest and Europe-wide one of the largest public collections of international video art. In the context of the exhibition Frequently Asked Questions, 12 works from the collection are presented in four thematic screening blocks. All of these works engage with the themes of labor, commodification, and migration. The works are presented as projections on container architectures, which symbolize the imminent transformation and upheaval of the Uferhallen site, as well as global trade and consumption.

Thursday, September 14 and September 21, 2023, 5–9 pm

How to measure value?

How is a work’s value measured? How can efficiency be assessed in the context of social interactions? How are bodies, movement, technological innovation, platform economies, and the logic of maximum exploitation of human and natural resources interconnected? These questions are explored in the narrative works of Kajsa Dahlberg, Pilvi Takala, and Alexandra Pirici, bridging documentary and artistic storytelling.

Kajsa Dahlberg, Reach, Grasp, Move, Position, Apply Force, 2015

Pilvi Takala, Worker’s Forum, 2015

Alexandra Pirici, Girl Folding a Handkerchief, 2021

Friday, September 15 and September 22, 2023, 5–9 pm

What do you do for work?

"What do you do for work?" is a common, though sometimes uncomfortable, question we are constantly asked. Yet the response is seldom as complex as it could be. Beyond its personal dimension, this question holds significant societal implications. It involves status, meaning, ideals, expertise, and one’s role within a broader context.

Annika Eriksson, Arbeitswelt, 2002

Antje Ehmann and Eva Stotz, Labour in a Single Shot: Marseille. Portrait of a City, 2018

Harun Farocki, Die Schöpfer der Einkaufswelten, 2001

Saturday, September 16 and September 23, 2023, 12–8 pm

Are borders productive?

As part of Are borders productive?, three essay films are presented that, in very different ways, explore the connection between borders, immigration policies, and low-paid and precarious labor conditions.

Ursula Biemann, Performing the Border, 1999

Eli Cortiñas, Walls Have Feelings, 2019

Adnan Softić and Nina Softić, Schiffe mit Waren und Stoffen stoßen mit ihren Wellen die Bibby Challenge an, 2019

Sunday, September 17 and September 24, 2023, 12–8 pm

Can we do it differently?

The global economic crisis that began in 2007/2008 led to massive layoffs worldwide. First in Latin America and later in Europe, the situation led to workers occupying factories, rebuilding production, and bringing operations under self-management, aiming to prevent the closure of production facilities or the relocation of production to other countries. The screening presents three works of the multipart video series Occupy, Resist, Produce, in which Oliver Ressler (*1970 in Knittelfeld / Austria, lives in Vienna) and Dario Azzelini (*1967 in Wiesbaden, lives in Berlin) document the occupation of factories in Rome, Thessaloniki, and Gémenos near Marseille. While the circumstances, contexts, and practices within these worker-controlled enterprises vary significantly, they collectively represent sociopolitical initiatives and organizational processes that extend beyond mere economic mechanisms.

Dario Azzellini, Oliver Ressler

Occupy, Resist, Produce – Vio.Me., 2015

Occupy, Resist, Produce – Oficine Zero, 2015

Occupy, Resist, Produce – Scop Ti, 2018

Please find additional information on the program of the exhibition Frequently Asked Questions and the Uferhallen site in the exhibition flyer.