Crac Alsace Reopens with Inaugural Exhibition by Hilde Teerlinck

The Crac Alsace in Altkirch, France, which narrowly avoided permanent closure last year, reopened on September 15, 2002, with the exhibition 'Bienvenue willkommen welcome @altkirch' (through November 24, 2002). Under new director Hilde Teerlinck, formerly of the Pavillon Mies Van der Rohe in Barcelona and the Espace d'art contemporain de Perpignan, the venue presents works by fifteen artists in former classrooms, each given individual space. The exhibition emphasizes diverse practices—video, performance, photography, installation, painting—without a thematic grouping. Notable works include Leo Copers's black flag with a skull, Yan Duyvendak's performance 'My name is Neo (for 15 minutes)' reenacting Keanu Reeves from The Matrix, Peter Friedl's 'King Kong' referencing a Johannesburg ghetto razed by authorities, Josh Muller's 'Construction du ciel' comparing infographic modeling and video capture, Thomas Galler's reinterpretation of Hollywood imagery, Remy Markovitsch's 'Cosmic Debris' blending fiction and document, Ugo Rondinone's 'Neunundzwanzigstermal zwei', and Maya Roos's fresco based on scanning hard drives of Crac occupants. Teerlinck positions the institution as both forward-looking and educational.