The Brücke Museum organizes from 1-3 June 2023 the international conference Expressionism Revisited. Current research projects, new questions and methodological approaches that address the challenges in the scholarly contextualisation, presentation and mediation of Expressionism will be presented and discussed. The aim of the three-day event is to promote young researchers, scholarly exchange and networking at the interface of theory and practice.

10–10.30 am
Question of the Day: Old questions asked in a new way (DE)
Christiane Remm (Karl und Emy Schmidt-Rottluff Stiftung) in conversation with
Lisa Marei Schmidt (Brücke-Museum)

The panel puts a spotlight on shifts in perspective, the embrace of cultural studies approaches, and the deconstruction of popular narratives that have injected significant dynamism into international expressionism research in recent years. Through critical examination of previously unknown sources, analysis of newly gathered data on provenance and collection history, and exploration of the cultural policy framework within Western museum institutions, the presentations traverse a broad spectrum. They range from reevaluating the artistic assimilation of non-European cultural heritage in the works of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff to examining the reception of German expressionism in the United States and France.

The panel is devoted to a reevaluation of key works of Expressionism. Building upon the multifaceted interpretive possibilities of an autonomous art movement beyond naturalism, selected works by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Erich Heckel are reexamined from an interdisciplinary perspective, opening them up to current arenas of discourse. The individual contributions are guided by the concept of artistic transgression, to which the members of the Brücke were committed in terms of blurring the boundaries between artistic genres. Through the dialogue of panel paintings and murals, serial graphics and poetry, painting, dance, gesture, and performance, the creative processes that serve as a timeless affirmation to keep Expressionism alive to this day will be unveiled.