Acts of Refusal was an exhibition at Tartu Art House, Tartu, Estonia in 2011. It was curated by Ellen Blumenstein and Kathrin Meyer, with contributions by Libia Castro and Ólafur Ólafsson, Rubén Grilo, Tehching Hsieh, Jos de Gruyter and Harald Thys, Bernd Krauß and others.
From the press release: The exhibition project ‘Acts of Refusal’ departs from Italian philosopher Paolo Virno’s idea that the act of fleeing is an actual possibility for changing a condition that has become unbearable. What other forms of refusal exist which, instead of deciding on one alternative or another, undermine, mock, stretch realities to absurdity and thus produce – possibly – change? In a highly functional and affirmative society we want to search for such ‘soft’ acts of refusal in works of art that sidestep, or avoid partaking in a game that is not considered their own.
