Roger Eberhard
Roger Eberhard (CH, 1984) is a Swiss photographer born in Zürich. He studied photography at the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, California and at Zürich University of the Arts. After 13 years in the United States, Canada and Berlin, he moved back to Switzerland in 2017. His projects often deal with forms of governmentality, depict artificially contrived, stage-like settlements and reflect his interest in political geography. His work is exhibited worldwide, in solo shows as well as large collective exhibitions such as Civilization. His latest project, Escapism, is published by Éditions Images Vevey and part of the Biennial in 2022. Besides his art practice, Roger Eberhard founded a publishing business called b.frank books in 2011.
Project
Meanwhile
“In a world of instant connectivity and interdependence, the simultaneity of global events is the basis for the sometimes troublesome dynamics of attention politics. With crises and changes happening at the same time across the planet, the mechanisms by which attention is allocated and prioritised are complex. Amidst this synchronicity of events, there exists a chance to cultivate a global consciousness. Simultaneous occurrences reveal the universality of certain human experiences and as a result, allow us to strengthen our shared humanity and to appreciate cultural diversity”.
Roger Eberhard’s project entitled Meanwhile deals with the simultaneousness of global events. In a quest for varying perspectives, the artist approached 20 peers – comprising artists, curators and historians – from 20 different countries spanning all continents and asked each of them to name the 12 most consequential events since 1700. With 141 unique answers, he chose the 12 events achieving the highest convergence as the starting point for Meanwhile. For each of these events, Eberhard researched and documented a compelling story that happened on the very same day, albeit in a different part of the world.
Meanwhile will be a body of work with 12 chapters, united by the common thread that, simultaneously and elsewhere, something grand unfolded, something that left an indelible mark on our collective memory. For example: in 1789, Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie set out in a canoe to find a river passage from Northern Alberta, Canada, north-westwards to Alaska. On the day of the French Revolution, 14th July, and very much to his frustration, he reached the Arctic Ocean instead. In a letter to his cousin, he called the waterway “the River Disappointment” – today this very important river system is named in his honour: Mackenzie River.