In order to expand the limits of traditional porcelain production and explore new terrain beyond mere art objects, Nymphenburg also incorporates interdisciplinary artistic practices such as performances in the creative process as part of its Arts und Design Programme.
The idea behind it is to shift the usual perspective on the materials and value of porcelain and majolica and to break through the usual conventions to promote creativity, innovation, and new points of view in collaboration with artists and designers.
Through such collaborations, Nymphenburg consciously questions the symbolic character or a work of art or a porcelain object, in order to not only see it in its representative function, but also to place it more firmly in its experimental, cross-border spatial and social contexts.
It is not just the final porcelain object that stands alone as a work of art and is to be understood as the result of a process. Rather, the concept of art is expanded, since the preceding performance, the process per se, and the documentation of it, become essential elements of the piece. In collaboration with the artisans as the master workshops, the artists Olaf Nicolai and Saâdane Afif take their audience on a journey beyond the realm of the ordinary.
Saâdane Afif's performance presented temporally process-like and repeating themes and motifs in the artist’s work, such as song lyrics or recurrent actors and co-authors, through performances and pieces made from Nymphenburg porcelain – sculptures that assimilate the entire creative process.
