Exhibition "Wer wir sind" (Who we are) - DOMiD cooperates with Bundeskunsthalle
04 April 2023
Cologne/Bonn, 04.04.2023 - An established art institution and the expert on the history of migration in Germany are cooperating on an exhibition project: the Bundeskunsthalle and the Documentation Center and Museum of Migration in Germany (DOMiD). The result is a groundbreaking exhibition that questions Germany as a country of immigration from a variety of perspectives. Critically, artistically and historically well-founded. One thing is beyond question: that Germany is a migration society.
How does the "we" in a society come into being? Is this only possible through differentiation from "the others"? Is it possible to arrive at a common and comprehensive "we" in our society?
Central question: Who belongs to the "we" - and why not all?
The exhibition WHO WE ARE asks critical questions about Germany as an immigration country. This is a concept that politicians have long resisted and which today should
should seem self-evident today. Migration is not a special case - it is the normal state of affairs, at all times and everywhere in the world. People who came to Germany have always struggled to be part of society and its history. Experiences of racism and discrimination are still part of everyday life for people who are denied belonging to the "we", whether with or without a migration history. Their paths are marked by resistance, but also by success.
This struggle for an equal coexistence is the focus of the exhibition. Artistic positions that deal with questions of identity, as in "My Country" by Manaf Halbouni, meet exemplarily with collection items of DOMiD such as a shoe shine box of a "guest worker" who fought for professional recognition.
Cooperation as win-win
DOMiD's managing director, Dr. Robert Fuchs, has his sights set on establishing DOMiD in the German museum landscape: "After our highly acclaimed cooperation exhibition in 2021 at the Museum Ludwig, we are now taking a step further in the development of the migration museum with the Bundeskunsthalle. Artistic perspectives and an innovative supporting program bring a formerly marginal topic into the center of society: it's about time and we are grateful to take this path with the Bundeskunsthalle."
Diversity-oriented opening in the museum landscape in trend
Dr. Eva Kraus, artistic director of the Bundeskunsthalle adds, "For some years now, we have been in the process of intercultural opening with our institution. The exhibition WHO WE ARE supports this development in an extraordinary way. With DOMiD, we have been able to gain a partner institution that has the largest collection on the history of migration in Germany. These objects and documents complement the numerous artistic works, some of which were created especially for the exhibition. Together with them, we can tell stories and illustrate the special diversity that matters in our society today and in the future."
WHO WE ARE
Reflections on an Immigration Country
MAY 26 - OCTOBER 8, 2023
Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn
An exhibition of the Bundeskunsthalle and DOMiD (Documentation Center and Museum of Migration in Germany). With the support of De-Zentralbild.