“An exhibition does not exist in isolation; even on a local level, it engages in dialogue with other institutions’ explorations of similar themes, interdisciplinary artistic endeavors, and ongoing economic, political, and social discourses. In the case of Handle with Care, one cannot overlook the institutional context in which the exhibition was realized: the framework of a state-funded museum, and the limiting conditions of a white cube exhibition space, whose often rigid walls and the questions raised by the works sometimes created a tension between each other. However, one guiding aim hovered behind the concept of the exhibition throughout: to make the museum’s hermetically closed walls more porous, allowing impulses from society to seep in, while enabling art to exert its influence outward from within.”— Viktória Popovics (excerpt from the catalogue) The publication was released in connection with the exhibition Handle with Care (Vigyázat, törékeny) held at the Ludwig Museum in 2023, as well as the symposium Caring Practices (Gondoskodó gyakorlatok). The volume explores the topic with exceptional thoroughness. In addition to the texts and artwork descriptions organized into thematic chapters—Solidarity Partnerships, Non-Idealized Approaches, The Social Network as a Societal Resource, and Balancing Individual and Collective Levels—it also integrates related events connected to the exhibition and off-site museum programs.
