Installation views
Julian Rosefeldt – Making Of. Film Installations and Photo Works 2004–2010, DA2 – Domus Artium, Salamanca, October 2010–March 2011
Julian Rosefeldt: American Night, Kunstmuseum Bonn, November 2009–January 2010
Julian Rosefeldt. The Ship of Fools, Phillips de Pury & Company, New York, January 2008
>> Close
Lonely Planet
2006
1-channel film
Colour, sound
Shot on Super-35mm
Converted to HD-SR and transferred onto Blu-ray Disc and DVD
Aspect ratio 2,35:1
Loop, 16 min 18 sec
Edition 6 + 2 ap
Lonely Planet (2006) shows the stereotype of a western backpacker in India on his odyssey through a world of interlocking backdrops. The desert marks the beginning and end of a trip that takes the protagonist (played by the artist himself) ever deeper into a labyrinth maze of swarming crowds and Bollywood film sets in which he is in danger of becoming lost forever. His journey takes him from romanticised motifs to the slums of Bombay, where the scene suddenly shifts from a fictitious narrative to the reality of a filmic setting: the tourist emerges as a performer amongst cameras and spotlights; the dirty metropolis gives way to the artificial and illusory atmosphere on the set; a putatively authentic India reverts to the realm of Bollywood. When the protagonist finally manages to escape into the blessed emptiness of the desert, it is merely the beginning of a renewed dissolution of the self.
Taking the title of the popular travel guide series, Rosefeldt’s work considers what it means to be a cosmopolite in the age of new media. The film speaks about the hopes and illusions of modern travellers going to Asia with the desire for enlightenment and discovery of authentic and exotic places, whilst following stamped-out trails widespread through travel guides and online platforms. As a counterpart to Rosefeldt’s film Asylum (2001/2002), it is now the tourists from western industrialised nations that appear as ‘the other’. On their pilgrimage to Goa they became an attraction for the local population. Lonely Planet examines the media‘s role in leading us towards a subjectivity that is not singular, but heterogeneous and experienced by masses.
Summarised from Stefan Berg, in: Julian Rosefeldt: Film Works (2008);
and Anne Ellegood, in: The Cinema Effect: Illusion, Reality and the Moving Image. Part II: Realisms (2008)
Exhibitions / Catalogues
–The Middleman, the Backpacker, the Foreign Species, and the Time Traveler, TKG Gallery, Taipei, July–September 2019
Summarised from Stefan Berg, in: Julian Rosefeldt: Film Works (2008);
and Anne Ellegood, in: The Cinema Effect: Illusion, Reality and the Moving Image. Part II: Realisms (2008)
Exhibitions / Catalogues
–The Middleman, the Backpacker, the Foreign Species, and the Time Traveler, TKG Gallery, Taipei, July–September 2019
– Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2012 – India's First Biennale, BRICS (Collateral Segment), Kochi, December 2012–March 2013
(curated by Alfons Hug)
– 1. Bienal de Montevideo – El Gran Sur, Great Hall, Banco República del Uruguay, Montevideo, November 2012–March 2013
(curated by Alfons Hug, Paz Abuerto, Patricia Bentancur; catalogue)
– Julian Rosefeldt. Lonely Planet, Barbara Gross Galerie, Munich, September–October 2012
– Basado en una historia real – Based on a True Story, Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende, Santiago de Chile,
October–December 2012 (curated by Yael Rosenblut)
– Julian Rosefeldt, Galerie West, Den Haag, July–August 2012
– Julian Rosefeldt – World-Making. Film and Photo Works 2001–2011, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, April–June 2012
(curated by Mei-ching Fang, Fang-wei Chang; catalogue)
– Migration, Arndt (temporary exhibition space), Melbourne, March–July 2012
– Beyond Time. International Video Art Today, Kulturhuset Stockholm, Sweden, March–May 2012 (curated by Paul Young)
– ROJO NOVA Contemporary Culture Festival, Fundação Casa França Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, March–April 2011
(curated a.o. by Robert Seidel)
– Julian Rosefeldt – Making Of. Film Installations and Photo Works 2004–2010, DA2 – Domus Artium, Salamanca,
October 2010–March 2011 (curated by Javier Panera)
– Márgenes de Silencio / Margins of Silence, Centro de Artes Visuales Fundación Helga de Alvear, Cáceres,
June 2010–February 2011 (curated by José María Viñuela)
– Decalogue: Films you can count on two hands, Winkleman Gallery, New York, March–May 2010
(curated by Eve Sussman)
– Julian Rosefeldt: American Night, Kunstmuseum Bonn, November 2009–January 2010 (curated by Stephan Berg;
catalogue)
– Julian Rosefeldt. American Night, EX3 – Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea, Florence, October–December 2009
(curated by Arabella Natalini & Lorenz Giusti; catalogue)
– MARZlive, Marz Galeria, Lisbon, June–July 2009
– 2. Bienal del Fin del Mundo, Ushuaia, March–April 2009 (curated by Alfons Hug, Fernando Farina, Alberto Saraiva;
catalogue)
– Berlin change plus vite que mon cœur – Vidéos et visions mouvantes actuelles, Gare St Sauveur, Lille, March–April 2009
(curated by Paz Abuerto)
– Julian Rosefeldt. American Night, Galería Leyendecker, St. Cruz de Tenerife, March-May 2009
– Eclectic Images, BodhiBerlin, Berlin, January–February 2009 (curated by Jamila Adeli & Arsenal Institut für Film und
Videokunst e.V.)
– Gustos, Colecciones y Cintas de Vídeo, CA2M Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, September 2008–January 2009 (curated by
Virginia Torrente)
– Licht, Neuer Pfaffenhofener Kunstverein, Pfaffenhofen, December 2008 (curated by Steffen Kopetzky)
– The Cinema Effect: Illusion, Reality and the Moving Image. Part II: Realism, Smithsonian Institution – Hirshhorn Museum
and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., June–September 2008; Caixa Forum, Madrid, January–April 2011; Caixa Forum
Palma, Palma de Mallorca, October 2011–January 2012 (curated by a.o. Kerry Brougher, Anne Ellegood; catalogue)
– Más o menos cine. Ciclo de proyecciones, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla, April–March 2008
(curated by Berta Sichel)
– Re-Imagining Asia, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, March–May 2008 (curated by Wu Hung, Shaheen Merali;
catalogue)
– Julian Rosefeldt. The Ship of Fools, Phillips de Pury & Company, New York, January 2008
– Bad Joke, Tallinn Art Hall, November 2007–January 2008; Riga Art Space, August–October 2008 (curated by
Johannes Saar)
– Cine y casi cine, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, November–December 2007 (curated by Berta Sichel)
– Tela da Cidade / Vídeo-arte no DMAE, Jardins do DMAE, Porto Alegre, October–November 2007
(curated by Bernardo de Souza)
– Cuestión Xeracional / Generational Issue, CGAC Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela,
September–October 2007 (curated by Carlos Urroz; catalogue)
– Selection de la KunstFilmBiennale Cologne 2007, Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou, Paris, May 2007;
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, March–April 2009; KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin,
March–May 2009 (curated by Heinz Peter Schwerfel)
– Julian Rosefeldt, Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, April 2007
– Julian Rosefeldt, Chapter Gallery, Cardiff, December 2006–January 2007
– 1. Bienal de Canarias de Arquitectura, Arte y Paisaje, Casa Vegueta, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands,
November 2006–February 2007 (curated by Antonio Zaya; catalogue)
– Bombay Maximum City, Tri Postal, Lille, October 2006–January 2007 (curated by Caroline Naphegyi; catalogue)
– 100 Tage =100 Videos, Kunstverein Heidelberg, September–December 2006; Kunstforeningen GL Strand, Copenhagen,
September 2007–January 2008 (curated by Johan Holten)
– Julian Rosefeldt. Lonely Planet, Arndt & Partner, Berlin, May–June 2006
– Julian Rosefeldt. Lonely Planet, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, May 2006 (curated by Steffen Kopetzky)
– KunstFilmBiennale Köln 2005, Kino im Museum Ludwig, Cologne, October 2005 (curated by Heinz Peter Schwerfel;
catalogue)
Literature
Berg, Stephan, et al., eds. Julian Rosefeldt: Film Works. Ostfildern, 2008
Film Credits
Julian Rosefeldt (Backpacker)
Director of Photography: Christoph Krauss
Executive Producer: Grey Cells Entertainment Ltd.
Head of Operations: Rashmi Ranjan Kanungo
Production Managers: Lalit Kohli, Himanshu Mehra, Akshay Pathak
Grey Cells Director: Uday Sinh Wala
Head of Production: Raajesh Srivastana
Sound Recording: Arun Nambiar
Choreographer: Stanley D'Costa
Steadycam Operator: Sunil
Jimmy Jib Operator: Sunder
Art Director Kamalistaan Set: Manohar Patil
1st Assistant DoP: Nayeem
Assistants DoP: Aja
Dhananjay Gowda
Camera Attendants: Naresh Arora Akhtar
Steadycam Attendants: Salim Raju
Jimmy Jib Attendants: Sanjay Devendra
Assistants Choreographer: Kalpana Praveen
Extras Coordinator: Ravinder Suri
Best Boy: Ramesh Tambatkar
Electricians: Bhaskar, Ramesh, Suresh, Bahadur, Warish, Sudhakar
Production Boys: Mani Suramaniam, Suresh Chelke, Bahadur Jaman, Achit Kumar
Driver: Narayan
Catering: Guru Caterers
Extras: Kishan, Amit, Rajat, Shiva, Shera, Deva, Aslam, Feroz, Salman, Raashpal, Vishal, Ajay, Vishnu, Mohammad, Papu, Zubeida, Heera, Pummy, Reema, Sana, Rekha, Rubhaina, Jyoti, Pooja, Zara, Chintu, Raju, DancersEvelin, Farida, Daljeet, Namrata, Sugandha, Pinky, Kitty, Trupti, Aamit, David, Vijay, Parvez, Shree, Sachin, Mane, Ajay, Sunil, Sodhi
Editor: Dietrich Toellner
Postproduction Berlin: Pictorion das werk berlin GmbH
Project Manager das werk: Edith Hermann
Colourist: Nadir Mansouri
Compositing: Christian Tröger
Technical Support: Alex Falk
Light Supplier: Moon Lights
Generator Supplier: MS Power
Jimmy Jib Supplier: Mahopatra Movies
Camera Supplier: Bollywood Ltd.
DV Transfer: Mohan Color Lab
Processing & Telecine: Prasad Lab
Transport: Aastha Travels
Film Stock: Kodak
Music:
Sacred Hindu Chants - Gayatri Mantra, Times Music, 2004
Green Day - American Idiot, Warner Bros. Records, 2004
Niladri Kumar - Saanjh Sur, Times Music, 2003
Ustad Zakir Hussain - Rhythmic Impressions, Sony BMG, 2006
A. R. Rahman - Rang de Basanti, UTV Motion Pictures, 2006
Commissioned by:
Biennale Bonn
Supported by:
Galerie Arndt & Partner, Berlin
Max Wigram Gallery, London
Goethe Institute Delhi
Lille 3000
Shot in Mumbai and Varanasi, India, 2006
Written, directed and produced by Julian Rosefeldt
All rights reserved © Julian Rosefeldt
(curated by Alfons Hug)
– 1. Bienal de Montevideo – El Gran Sur, Great Hall, Banco República del Uruguay, Montevideo, November 2012–March 2013
(curated by Alfons Hug, Paz Abuerto, Patricia Bentancur; catalogue)
– Julian Rosefeldt. Lonely Planet, Barbara Gross Galerie, Munich, September–October 2012
– Basado en una historia real – Based on a True Story, Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende, Santiago de Chile,
October–December 2012 (curated by Yael Rosenblut)
– Julian Rosefeldt, Galerie West, Den Haag, July–August 2012
– Julian Rosefeldt – World-Making. Film and Photo Works 2001–2011, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, April–June 2012
(curated by Mei-ching Fang, Fang-wei Chang; catalogue)
– Migration, Arndt (temporary exhibition space), Melbourne, March–July 2012
– Beyond Time. International Video Art Today, Kulturhuset Stockholm, Sweden, March–May 2012 (curated by Paul Young)
– ROJO NOVA Contemporary Culture Festival, Fundação Casa França Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, March–April 2011
(curated a.o. by Robert Seidel)
– Julian Rosefeldt – Making Of. Film Installations and Photo Works 2004–2010, DA2 – Domus Artium, Salamanca,
October 2010–March 2011 (curated by Javier Panera)
– Márgenes de Silencio / Margins of Silence, Centro de Artes Visuales Fundación Helga de Alvear, Cáceres,
June 2010–February 2011 (curated by José María Viñuela)
– Decalogue: Films you can count on two hands, Winkleman Gallery, New York, March–May 2010
(curated by Eve Sussman)
– Julian Rosefeldt: American Night, Kunstmuseum Bonn, November 2009–January 2010 (curated by Stephan Berg;
catalogue)
– Julian Rosefeldt. American Night, EX3 – Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea, Florence, October–December 2009
(curated by Arabella Natalini & Lorenz Giusti; catalogue)
– MARZlive, Marz Galeria, Lisbon, June–July 2009
– 2. Bienal del Fin del Mundo, Ushuaia, March–April 2009 (curated by Alfons Hug, Fernando Farina, Alberto Saraiva;
catalogue)
– Berlin change plus vite que mon cœur – Vidéos et visions mouvantes actuelles, Gare St Sauveur, Lille, March–April 2009
(curated by Paz Abuerto)
– Julian Rosefeldt. American Night, Galería Leyendecker, St. Cruz de Tenerife, March-May 2009
– Eclectic Images, BodhiBerlin, Berlin, January–February 2009 (curated by Jamila Adeli & Arsenal Institut für Film und
Videokunst e.V.)
– Gustos, Colecciones y Cintas de Vídeo, CA2M Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, September 2008–January 2009 (curated by
Virginia Torrente)
– Licht, Neuer Pfaffenhofener Kunstverein, Pfaffenhofen, December 2008 (curated by Steffen Kopetzky)
– The Cinema Effect: Illusion, Reality and the Moving Image. Part II: Realism, Smithsonian Institution – Hirshhorn Museum
and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., June–September 2008; Caixa Forum, Madrid, January–April 2011; Caixa Forum
Palma, Palma de Mallorca, October 2011–January 2012 (curated by a.o. Kerry Brougher, Anne Ellegood; catalogue)
– Más o menos cine. Ciclo de proyecciones, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla, April–March 2008
(curated by Berta Sichel)
– Re-Imagining Asia, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, March–May 2008 (curated by Wu Hung, Shaheen Merali;
catalogue)
– Julian Rosefeldt. The Ship of Fools, Phillips de Pury & Company, New York, January 2008
– Bad Joke, Tallinn Art Hall, November 2007–January 2008; Riga Art Space, August–October 2008 (curated by
Johannes Saar)
– Cine y casi cine, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, November–December 2007 (curated by Berta Sichel)
– Tela da Cidade / Vídeo-arte no DMAE, Jardins do DMAE, Porto Alegre, October–November 2007
(curated by Bernardo de Souza)
– Cuestión Xeracional / Generational Issue, CGAC Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela,
September–October 2007 (curated by Carlos Urroz; catalogue)
– Selection de la KunstFilmBiennale Cologne 2007, Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou, Paris, May 2007;
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, March–April 2009; KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin,
March–May 2009 (curated by Heinz Peter Schwerfel)
– Julian Rosefeldt, Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, April 2007
– Julian Rosefeldt, Chapter Gallery, Cardiff, December 2006–January 2007
– 1. Bienal de Canarias de Arquitectura, Arte y Paisaje, Casa Vegueta, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands,
November 2006–February 2007 (curated by Antonio Zaya; catalogue)
– Bombay Maximum City, Tri Postal, Lille, October 2006–January 2007 (curated by Caroline Naphegyi; catalogue)
– 100 Tage =100 Videos, Kunstverein Heidelberg, September–December 2006; Kunstforeningen GL Strand, Copenhagen,
September 2007–January 2008 (curated by Johan Holten)
– Julian Rosefeldt. Lonely Planet, Arndt & Partner, Berlin, May–June 2006
– Julian Rosefeldt. Lonely Planet, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, May 2006 (curated by Steffen Kopetzky)
– KunstFilmBiennale Köln 2005, Kino im Museum Ludwig, Cologne, October 2005 (curated by Heinz Peter Schwerfel;
catalogue)
Literature
Berg, Stephan, et al., eds. Julian Rosefeldt: Film Works. Ostfildern, 2008
Film Credits
Julian Rosefeldt (Backpacker)
Director of Photography: Christoph Krauss
Executive Producer: Grey Cells Entertainment Ltd.
Head of Operations: Rashmi Ranjan Kanungo
Production Managers: Lalit Kohli, Himanshu Mehra, Akshay Pathak
Grey Cells Director: Uday Sinh Wala
Head of Production: Raajesh Srivastana
Sound Recording: Arun Nambiar
Choreographer: Stanley D'Costa
Steadycam Operator: Sunil
Jimmy Jib Operator: Sunder
Art Director Kamalistaan Set: Manohar Patil
1st Assistant DoP: Nayeem
Assistants DoP: Aja
Dhananjay Gowda
Camera Attendants: Naresh Arora Akhtar
Steadycam Attendants: Salim Raju
Jimmy Jib Attendants: Sanjay Devendra
Assistants Choreographer: Kalpana Praveen
Extras Coordinator: Ravinder Suri
Best Boy: Ramesh Tambatkar
Electricians: Bhaskar, Ramesh, Suresh, Bahadur, Warish, Sudhakar
Production Boys: Mani Suramaniam, Suresh Chelke, Bahadur Jaman, Achit Kumar
Driver: Narayan
Catering: Guru Caterers
Extras: Kishan, Amit, Rajat, Shiva, Shera, Deva, Aslam, Feroz, Salman, Raashpal, Vishal, Ajay, Vishnu, Mohammad, Papu, Zubeida, Heera, Pummy, Reema, Sana, Rekha, Rubhaina, Jyoti, Pooja, Zara, Chintu, Raju, DancersEvelin, Farida, Daljeet, Namrata, Sugandha, Pinky, Kitty, Trupti, Aamit, David, Vijay, Parvez, Shree, Sachin, Mane, Ajay, Sunil, Sodhi
Editor: Dietrich Toellner
Postproduction Berlin: Pictorion das werk berlin GmbH
Project Manager das werk: Edith Hermann
Colourist: Nadir Mansouri
Compositing: Christian Tröger
Technical Support: Alex Falk
Light Supplier: Moon Lights
Generator Supplier: MS Power
Jimmy Jib Supplier: Mahopatra Movies
Camera Supplier: Bollywood Ltd.
DV Transfer: Mohan Color Lab
Processing & Telecine: Prasad Lab
Transport: Aastha Travels
Film Stock: Kodak
Music:
Sacred Hindu Chants - Gayatri Mantra, Times Music, 2004
Green Day - American Idiot, Warner Bros. Records, 2004
Niladri Kumar - Saanjh Sur, Times Music, 2003
Ustad Zakir Hussain - Rhythmic Impressions, Sony BMG, 2006
A. R. Rahman - Rang de Basanti, UTV Motion Pictures, 2006
Commissioned by:
Biennale Bonn
Supported by:
Galerie Arndt & Partner, Berlin
Max Wigram Gallery, London
Goethe Institute Delhi
Lille 3000
Shot in Mumbai and Varanasi, India, 2006
Written, directed and produced by Julian Rosefeldt
All rights reserved © Julian Rosefeldt