Manuela Unverdorben

Piracy as a Business Force is an ongoing research project on the interconnection of piracy and capitalism and why the figure of the pirate is still haunting popular imagination. While plunder and commerce were interchangeable in early imperialist ventures, later the safety of the oceans and maritime trade became the preconditions for our present-day global markets. The pirate is the paradigmatic romantic outlaw hero, nourishing popular myths of adventure and dissident practices, fantasies of rebellion and freedom. How did a common robber come to acquire such an aura of glamor? Or was (and is) the pirate much more an exemplary capitalist entrepreneur?
(Funded by Erwin und Gisela von Steiner-Stiftung)

Manuela Unverdorben & Ralf Homann:

Leichte Prise Freiheit (Light Prize of Freedom)

Piracy of the Ether: An additional part of the exhibition is a radio installation broadcasting a sound piece on the first pirate radio ships in Great Britain. Superficially representing youth counter-culture and pop-glamour, the story behind it much more points to its libertarian roots: Radio Atlanta and the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA), later significantly influencing the political agenda of Margaret Thatcher, shared the same financial and intellectual founder. For the IEA, radio and its pop-culture was just a means to attack the idea of collectivity.
(Funded by City of Munich, Art Scholarship)