Me, Family: Portrait of a Young Planet, a highlight of the 2020 exhibition programme at Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand Duc Jean, and scheduled to open on 30 May 2020, has been developed into a digital project. Inspired by Edward Steichen’s historic exhibition The Family of Man (1955), the exhibition devised by Francesco Bonami for Mudam paints a complex picture of humanity at the beginning of the twenty-first century through the work of 36 artists.
Me, Family evolves into a digital project
In response to the situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, guest curators Francesco Bonami and Emanuela Mazzonis, in close collaboration with Mudam’s curatorial team, have responded to this unprecedented time to explore alternative ways of addressing viewers while ensuring the artists and their ideas remain at the heart of their project. With the help of Base Design Brussels, Me, Family is being developed for a digital format which will go online in September this year. The launch of this platform opens a new chapter in Mudam’s programme of events and exhibitions and aims to foster greater opportunities for remote accessibility in the long term.
Suzanne Cotter, Director of Mudam, has said: ‘In this time of immense uncertainty, the themes addressed through the works of artists that are at the heart of Me, Family have never seemed more relevant. It is for this reason that, with curators Francesco Bonami and Emanuela Mazzonis, we have looked to create a platform that is appropriate to the times, that remains true to the ideas that have driven the exhibition concept and that can be shared with a broad public in time and in space.’
Sixty five years after its inaugural presentation at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Family of Man is the starting point for a diverse survey encompassing new and recent sculpture, installation, video, photography and performance. Organised by Edward Steichen (b. 1879, Bivange, Luxembourg; d. 1973, West Redding, Connecticut), The Family of Man toured to over 150 museums worldwide from 1955 to 1962. The exhibition has been on permanent display at Clervaux Castle in Luxembourg since 1994. In the spirit of Steichen’s radical exhibition, Me, Family will present the work of contemporary artists who work across various media and disciplines, exploring the ways in which humanity seeks to express its diverse and coexistent histories as well as the issues of that society finds itself confronted with today. The exhibition takes as its starting point a reality that is at once beautiful, dramatic and exhilarating, offering a journey through contemporary art, social networks, fashion, information technologies, advertising, sound, music and performance art.
Featuring works by 36 artists from 16 countries the exhibition includes a selection of works from the collection of Mudam. These include the monumental installation World Airport (1999) created by Thomas Hirschhorn(b. 1975, Bern) for the 48th Venice Biennale, a contemporary metaphor for a connected and globalised world.
Curator biography
Francesco Bonami (b. 1955, Florence) has curated significant international survey exhibitions including the Whitney Biennial (2010); the 50th Venice Biennial (2003) and Manifesta 3 (2000). He has also curated exhibitions for the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Whitechapel Gallery, London; National Museum of Korea, Seoul; Hara Museum, Tokyo; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; and Palazzo Reale, Milan. He has written and edited numerous publications, including monographs on Yan Pei-Ming, Jeff Koons, Maurizio Cattelan, Damien Hirst and Glenn Brown. He is Honorary Director of the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, and Artistic Director of JNBY Art Matters, Huangzhou. He lives and works in New York and Milan.