On Sediments and Occidents
An exhibition on colonial continuities and cultural sedimentation processes from the artistic research project of Johannes Rips as part of the Academy Library’s event series Wer A… sagt
Glasses clinking, a rake scraping across stony soil, a scene unfolding …
The exhibition On Sediments and Occidents presents props of a yet-to-be-completed artistic research process that set up a world of association and illustrate the 19th century with its narrative dynamics of nation-state formation, philhellenic history of ideas, and scientific categorization.
A study visit to Athens prompted an artistic and research exploration that traces colonial continuities and the cultural extractivism of archaeological excavations in Greece. It illustrates for its own part, and in a colonial matrix, the effect that these expeditions had on the emergence of archaeology and art-history as academic disciplines in general and, specifically, of Classicism.
Collections and objects held by various institutions in Athens, Warsaw, and Vienna help understand the extent of the impact that processes of Orientalizing or Occidentalizing had and still have on broad areas of culture. The involvement of different media—as well as art and archaeology as disciplines—in structure of epistemic violence is also addressed in the space of the Academy Library.
Featuring works by Johannes Rips and historical books from the University Library of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.
The exhibition On Sediments and Occidents is accompanied by an education program: 
20.06.2023: Exhibition opening with a performative activation and opening of historical books, and an introductory lecture.
27.06.2023: Visit to the Plaster Cast Collection of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna with Andrea Domanig and Johannes Rips
Date TBA: Visit to the Graphic Collection of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. 
September 2023, Date TBA: Closing event with panel discussion.
Johannes Rips lives and works in Vienna. In his research and curatorial work, he explores cultural narratives and their interlacings. In the process, collections and archives are important places to elucidate meta-logics. https://www.instagram.com/steuerfreies_macbook/
The artistic research project On Sediments and Occidents was generously supported by the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Bildrecht, Vienna Municipal Department for Cultural Affairs (MA 7), and the Austrian Students’ Union.
List of entries
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              Opening: On Sediments and OccidentsOpening of an exhibition on colonial continuities and cultural sedimentation processes with Johannes Rips as part of the Academy Library’s event series Wer A… sagt Exhibition Opening Schillerplatz/ University Library (Reading room, M7) University Library ![Johannes Rips, [em]On[/em], 2023, © Johannes Rips The black-and-white photograph shows four persons, three read as male and one as female, sitting at a long coarse wooden table eating and drinking wine. It is a scene from the 19th century. In the center of the picture the word ‘On’ can be read.](https://www.akbild.ac.at/en/university/universitylibrary/activities/exhibitions-didactic-program/2023/on-sediments-and-occidents/rips_on.jpg/@@images/image-300-b0cacaf3218f90c6802aecb56108f81f.jpeg)  
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              Visit to the Plaster Cast Collection: On Sediments and OccidentsA visit to the Collection of Plaster Casts and a talk with Andrea Domanig and Johannes Rips in the context of the exhibition On Sediments and Occidents. An event of A...cademy Library and The Collection of Plaster Casts. Talk Studio Building/ Plaster Cast Collection University Library ![View of the Plaster Cast Collection at the Studiobuilding, front left a cast of the [em]Capitoline Venus[/em] after Praxiteles © Paintings Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, photo: Klaus Pichler Three sculptures placed side by side in the white-washed vaulted basement of the Studiobuilding; due to the viewing angle, the leftmost figure, a cast of the ‘Capitoline Venus,’ appears to be the largest. The other two casts represent ‘Eirene carrying the infant Plutos on her arm’ and ‘Ares Borghese.’ All three sculptures are visible from the head to about the knee.](https://www.akbild.ac.at/en/university/universitylibrary/activities/exhibitions-didactic-program/2023/on-sediments-and-occidents/rips_glypto_venus.jpg/@@images/image-300-b0cacaf3218f90c6802aecb56108f81f.jpeg)  
![Johannes Rips, [em]On[/em], 2023, © Johannes Rips The black-and-white photograph shows four persons, three read as male and one as female, sitting at a long coarse wooden table eating and drinking wine. It is a scene from the 19th century. In the center of the picture the word ‘On’ can be read.](https://www.akbild.ac.at/en/university/universitylibrary/activities/exhibitions-didactic-program/2023/on-sediments-and-occidents/rips_on.jpg/@@images/image-1400-1066e8d72c9ea67ed41d453421fa1e9f.jpeg)