Rirkrit Tiravanija's Decentralized Exhibition at Haus der Kunst

Rirkrit Tiravanija's exhibition at Haus der Kunst in Munich (5–29 May) blurs boundaries between performance and participation through a transparent stage set for Toshio Hosokawa's opera Hanjo (2004), adapted from Yukio Mishima's 1955 Noh play. The set, on wheels and featuring a ghostly white bonsai tree, doubles as a platform for tea ceremonies by Japanese artist Mai Ueda. Seven films from 1995 to 2017 screen upstairs, including a shot-for-shot remake of Fassbinder's Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), originally filmed at Gavin Brown's Enterprise in New York. A replica of the film's bar, staffed by actor Florian Tröbinger, offers free drinks to visitors. Table-tennis tables stenciled with 'morgen ist die frage' riff on Július Koller's 1970 participatory work. Visitors can screen-print slogans from the Hanjo libretto onto T-shirts. Banners outside display phrases like 'My body is filled with waiting.' A video at the entrance animates slogans on freedom and repression in multiple languages. The exhibition atomizes components throughout the museum, creating a decentralized experience that echoes the opera's themes of repetition and blurred realities.