NO SOUL FOR SALE - A Festival of Independents, New York

Held at X from June 24 through June 28, NO SOUL FOR SALE – A Festival of Independents will bring together the most exciting, creative and respected not-for-profit centers, alternative institutions, artists' collectives and independent enterprises from around the world that contribute to the international art scene by inventing new strategies for the distribution of information and by supporting a diverse cultural program.

X has invited 38 art spaces to travel to New York City to present themselves, their programs and the artists they support. With a gesture of radical hospitality, X will provide free space to all participants within the premises of the X building. The participants will be allowed to show whatever they choose, be it art, performances, publications, videos, or simply themselves. In addition to the exhibition space, X will make available to each participant, for a one-hour period, a dedicated performance area on the ground floor in which participants can organize performances, presentations, discussions and music programs.

Neither a fair nor an exhibition, NO SOUL FOR SALE is a convention of individuals and groups who have devoted their energies to keeping art alive. The Festival will be an exercise in coexistence: organizations will exhibit alongside each other without partitions or walls. As on the set of the legendary Lars von Trier's movie Dogville, participants will be assigned spaces that are only marked on the floor, creating a map of an imaginary city of art, where distances and hierarchies are abolished.

With associations and groups coming from Berlin, Milan, Dublin, Barcelona, Paris, Reykjavík, Hong Kong, Rabat, Trinidad, New York, Los Angeles, and many other locations, NO SOUL FOR SALE provides a unique occasion to foster creative exchange and to connect with international organizations that aren't usually accessible in New York City. With free entrance and a rich program of daily activities, NO SOUL FOR SALE will be a celebration of the independent forces that animate contemporary art.

Participants include: Artis Contemporary Israeli Art Fund (New York and Tel Aviv), Ballroom (Marfa), BizArt/Arthub (Shanghai/Hong Kong), DISPATCH (New York), Empty Purse Publications (New York), Filipa Oliveira + Miguel Amado (Lisbon), FLUXspace (Philadelphia), Galerie im Regierungsviertel/Forgotten Bar Project (Berlin), Hermes und der Pfau (Stuttgart), K 48 (New York), Kadist Art Foundation (Paris), Kling&Bang (Reykjavík), L'Appartement 22 (Rabat), Latitudes (Barcelona), LAXART (Los Angeles), Light Industry (Brooklyn), Lucie Fontaine (Milan), Migrating Forms (New York), Mousse Magazine (Milan), Next Visit (Berlin), Not An Alternative (Brooklyn), Office for Contemporary Art Norway (Oslo), Participant Inc. (New York), Rhizome (New York), STARSHIP (Berlin), Storefront for Art and Architecture (New York), Studio Film Club (Trinidad), Supportico Lopez (Berlin), Surasi Kusolwong (Thailand), Swiss Institute (New York), TART (San Francisco), The Mountain School of Arts (Los Angeles), Thisisnotashop (Dublin), Transformer (Washington, D.C.), Via Farini (Milan), Vox Populi (Philadelphia), WAGE Artists (New York), White Columns (New York)

In conjunction with the opening of NO SOUL FOR SALE, Mexico City-based artist MARTIN SOTO CLIMENT will orchestrate a performative sculpture titled Impulsive Chorus, realized with the assistance of the public. With more than one thousand beer cans to be consumed in the course of one evening, the performance creates an instant community: as beer cans are emptied, Martin Soto Climent will alter them with a slight crush and then place them on the floor in a formation. Special thanks to Asahi.

About X Initiative X is a not-for-profit initiative of the global contemporary art community that will exist for one year and present exhibitions in four phases. X will feature durational artist interventions, site-specific projects, historical in-depth exhibitions, one-night performances, lectures and weekly events. Questions posed in the form of programming will address relevant and pressing issues pertaining to the changing landscape of contemporary art.

Teilnahme der GALERIE IM REGIERUNGSVIERTEL / FORGOTTEN BAR PROJECT at:
NO SOUL FOR SALE - A Festival of Independents
X Initiative New York

Künstler: Elevator to the Gallows  (in the freight elevator of the building), Julieta Aranda, Tjorg Douglas Beer, Tobias Bernstrup, Monica Bonvicini, Erró , Arfus Greenwood, Gregor Hildebrandt, Christian Jankowski, April Lamm, Annika Larsson, Sara Lunden, Josephine Meckseper, Klaus Mettig, Olaf Metzel, Christopher Miner, Eric B. Mitchell, Katharina Sieverding, Franz Stauffenberg, Costa Vece, Thomas Schütte, Agathe Snow and others

Ten animal films by Christoph Schlingensief presented by Anna-Catharina Gebbers (moving image works program)

Opening Reception: June 23, 6-9 pm with a performance by Martin Soto Climent
Opening time: June 24 - 28, 2009, 1-9 pm