Against the Grain. Power-critical Perspectives

With the Karen Michelsen Castañón (art educator, artist) and Tanja Bianca-Schmidt (art historian)

With their expressive, colourful, and high-contrast paintings, the Brücke artists not only rebelled against the prevailing sense of taste and the strongly restrictive taboos of the bourgeoisie at the beginning of the twentieth century, but also contributed to the consolidation of exoticised, sexualised and normative ideas about nature, the body and society. In this workshop, we will approach the art of the Brücke group from a perspective that is critical of power and sensitive to discrimination. To this end, we will first trace and critically reflect on our own positioning. We will then look at and try out methods of critical visual observation. During the workshop, we will address the following questions: From which position do I speak? What do I see? What ideas about otherness, nudity, nature, role models and difference does the work convey? What (hurtful) effect does exhibiting this artwork have on you? To what extent does your experience guide your perception? How does a different attitude to the work change your perception? The workshop is process-oriented and involves various exercises and methods that use participants’ life experiences and self-observation as an important resource. The exercises are done individually and in small groups or altogether.

No prior knowledge necessary. This will be followed by the discussion Unschuldige Dinge? A project by the Werkbund Archive – Museum of Things. We are committed to respectful interaction. Discriminatory behavior has no place at our events.

Karen Michelsen Castañón (born in Lima, Peru) is a visual artist, filmmaker and freelance researcher. Her work deals with the way (colonial) histories are told and includes short films, photographs and textiles. She questions how both hegemonic and invisible stories are re-staged in our everyday lives and how this relates to current social events.

Tanja-Bianca Schmidt studied art history in a global context. Her focus is on critiques of power, theories of difference, Black identity and the aesthetics of migration. As a political mediator, she advises various museums in Germany on diversification and decolonisation strategies, and she regularly hosts workshops on discrimination-sensitive approaches in art history. She is currently doing her PhD in the DFG-funded project “Image Protests on Social Media” at the TU Dresden.

Due to the limited number of participants, please register here. Participation in public events is included with the museum admission. Meeting point: ticket counter in the foyer.