Shift: Music, Meaning, Context

Our current exhibition Shift: Music, Meaning, Context, explores how music changes in form and interpretation as it moves across time, bodies, and place. Folk songs are used for propaganda, pop hits are deployed as tools of torture, and cultural origins are erased – or reinvested – in particular songs, instruments, and genres. At the same time, music can also become a site of play, serendipity, and healing. The exhibition combines video, sound, and photography to transform the museum’s galleries into a unique choral mélange. 

Exhibiting artists include: Bani Abidi, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Tony Cokes, Jeremy Deller, Hassan Hajjaj, Sven Johne, André Lützen, Cecil McDonald, Jr., Emeka Ogboh, and Taryn Simon. 

Shift: Music, Meaning, Context is produced in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Chicago and Museum of Contemporary Photography, held on-site at the museum. The exhibition is curated by Leonhard Emmerling, Director, and Leah Gallant, Program Curator of the Goethe-Institut Chicago, along with Asha Iman Veal, Associate Curator at MoCP.