Crit Club Hamburg: Is the Camera Closer to a Mirror or a Window?
Crit Club is a performance by Cem A. in which two teams debate an implausible question about art. In a field where disagreement often feels risky, Crit Club creates space for critical play. Rather than rehearsing praise or silence, participants are invited to engage in disagreement – as performance, as roleplay, as thought experiment. Each debate starts with a seemingly implausible question. One side argues for, the other against – before switching roles midway through. As the performance unfolds, speakers must navigate an increasingly impossible scenario.
Cem A. is an artist with a background in anthropology. He is known for his performances and site-specific installations as well as running the art meme Instagram account @freeze_magazine. His work explores themes such as virality and performativity, often through collaborative projects. He has presented work at major institutions including Kunstsammlung NRW, Düsseldorf; Barbican Centre, London; and ZKM, Karlsruhe, and participated in documenta fifteen in Kassel.
Jasmina Cibic is a Slovenian artist working across film, installation, photography, and sculpture. She represented Slovenia at the 55th Venice Biennale and has presented solo exhibitions at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, macLyon, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade, CCA Glasgow, and Kunstmuseum Krefeld. Her work has also been included in group exhibitions at venues such as MoMA New York, MAXXI Rome, and the Chicago Architecture Biennial.
Moshtari Hilal (b. 1993, Kabul) is an artist, researcher, and curator based in Hamburg. She is a co-founder of the AVAH (Afghan Visual Arts and History) collective and the CCC (Curating through Conflict with Care) reserach project. In her work, which encompasses both artistic and discursive formats, she is concerned with beauty, ugliness, shame, and power. Hilal studied Middle Eastern studies and political science with a focus on gender, decolonial studies, and cultural studies in Hamburg, Berlin, and London.
Günseli Yalcinkaya is an artist, writer, and researcher based in London whose work explores how technology shapes myth. As a contributing editor at Dazed Magazine and former external research associate at Moth Quantum, Günseli investigates internet folklore, tracking how emerging technologies – from AI to quantum computing – give rise to new ideologies, digital superstitions, and collective fantasies. Her writing has appeared in Art Review, Dazed Magazine, Spike Art Magazine, and 032c, as well as in publications for organisations including Aksioma, Ars Electronica, and LAS Art Foundation. As a member of the multidisciplinary audiovisual project The Talk, she collaborates with musicians james K and Heith and architect Andrea Belosi, transforming research into live performance.
Moderation: Kate Brown