The 13-channel film installation Manifesto created by the Berlin-based artist, Julian Rosefeldt in 2015, pays homage to the moving tradition and literary beauty of artists’ manifestos. An artist manifesto is a statement by an individual or a group of artists, which outlines their motivation and intent. It is a literary form, which began in the early 20th century and is a common feature of each avant-garde art movement.

Tracing the history of the manifesto, Rosefeldt draws on the writings of Futurists, Dadaists, Fluxus, Suprematists, Situationists, Dogme 95, and other movements, and the musings of individual artists, architects, dancers and filmmakers. This installation juxtaposes contemporary characters and scenarios, presenting thirteen text collages which Rosefeldt assembled from dozens of manifestos on thirteen different screens all performed in monologue form by Australian actor Cate Blanchett.

Each monologue runs for approximately 10 minutes and they screen concurrently across the installation. The result is a call to action, which ultimately questions the role of artists in today’s society.

Julian Rosefeldt (b. Munich, Germany, 1965) is an artist and filmmaker based in Berlin. Rosefeldt is internationally renowned for his visually opulent and meticulously choreographed moving-image artworks, mostly presented as complex multi-screen installations. His artistic practice is inspired by the histories of film, art and popular culture. In creating his works, Rosefeldt uses cinematic tropes which carry viewers into surreal, theatrical realms where the inhabitants are absorbed by the rituals of everyday life. He employs humour and satire to seduce audiences into familiar worlds made strange.

Manifesto premiered at Melbourne’s Australian Centre for the Moving Image (2015) and has been shown across Europe and the United States including Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin and Park Avenue Armory, New York. The linear cinema version was premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, USA.

Manifesto was originally co-commissioned by the Art Gallery of New South Wales Sydney, the ACMI – Australian Centre for the Moving Image Melbourne, the Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and the Sprengel Museum Hannover. The work is co-produced by the Burger Collection Hong Kong and the Ruhrtriennale. It was realized thanks to the generous support of the Medienboard Berlin-Brendenburg and in cooperation with Bayerischer Rundfunk.