The Goethe-Institut New York is pleased to present a discussion and exhibition of video art inspired by Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project (Passagenwerk), his intricate and haunting life’s work contemplating the arcades of Paris. Michael Taussig, Professor of Anthropology at Columbia University and Stephan Wackwitz, Program Department Director at the Goethe-Institut New York discuss Benjamin’s masterpiece which continues to captivate artists and thinkers today.

For the exhibition Passages-passagen-pasáže eighteen international video artists pay tribute to Walter Benjamin’s work. The exhibition, curated by Nadine Gandy and designed by Michael Berk and Daniel Vatsky, is co-organized by the Gandy Gallery, Bratislava, Institut Français, and the Goethe-Instituts Bratislava and New York.

The interactive video installation is presented with open-PLAYER, a video management, software application which ensures online video transmission in broadcast quality. Special thanks to Nathalie Angles, Drazen Pantic, “Passages” technical consultant, and open-PLAYER.