Albertinum: Revolutionary Romances

Revolutionary Romances? Global Art Histories in the GDR

This exhibition focuses on the ›revolutionary romances‹ – the friendly revolutionary relations – that were carried on by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) with countries of the Global South. It thus takes a closer look at the little-studied subject of East German art in the context of global, transcultural art histories.

Exhibition Site Albertinum

DATES 04/11/2023—02/06/2024

Revolutionary Romances? Globale Kunstgeschichten in der DDR | Albertinum (4.11.2023—2.6.2024)

In the 1960s, following on the heels of the Cuban revolution, decolonization in Africa and erupting communist liberation movements, socialism seemed to be on the rise worldwide: the utopian vision of a socialist world community mobilised the Eastern Bloc.

Turning to the Global South gave the GDR the international recognition it had long hoped for and had been denied in the West, and enabled it to demonstrate state sovereignty and openness to the world. ›International friendship‹ and ›international solidarity‹ were ideological leitmotifs that shaped East Germany’s foreign policy in Asia, Africa and Latin America, motivated as it was by not only political but also economic interests. These concepts also informed foreign cultural policy and became important themes in state propaganda and in the visual arts of the GDR.

Teppich mit bunten figürlichen Personen — **Margarita Pellegrin, Demonstration, 1975**

**Ausstellungsansicht "Revolutionary Romances? Globale Kunstgeschichten in der DDR"**

**Ausstellungsansicht "Revolutionary Romances? Globale Kunstgeschichten in der DDR"** ausstellung kunst ddr museum skd

Revolutionary Romances im Albertinum — **Ausstellungsansicht "Revolutionary Romances? Globale Kunstgeschichten in der DDR"**

Based on the collections of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD), supplemented by selected loans, the exhibition explores the artistic practice, themes, and motifs of these actual and supposed ›Revolutionary Romances‹. On display are works from the 1950s to the 1980s by artists from the GDR, Cuba, Chile, Vietnam, India, Iraq, Libya, Mozambique, Burma (Myanmar) and other countries. The works include representations of ideals and icons of socialist internationalism, images of solidarity, works of artistic protest against war and violence in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and Cuban revolutionary graphic works, travel images, mail art as well as diploma works by foreign students at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts.

lilafarbene Plattform mit drei digitalen Figuren — **Arlette Quỳnh-Anh Trần, PLATTENLOTUS, 2022** Filmstill

Shown alongside works from the collections of the SKD are contemporary international positions and commissioned works by Georges Adéagbo, Sven Johne, Hamlet Lavastida, Dana Lorenz, Sonya Schönberger, Wenke Seemann, Sung Tieu and Arlette Quỳnh-Anh Trần, which consider and critically analyse from a present-day perspective the former ideals of ›solidarity‹ and ›international friendship‹.

From today’s point of view, it is necessary to question some of the exhibited artworks that were created in the GDR because they express a dominance of Eurocentric perspectives, forms of cultural appropriation as well as stereotypes about people and cultures of the Global South. What must further be taken into consideration is the contradiction between ideology and reality in East Germany, which is obvious in retrospect: the contradiction between criticising Western imperialism while failing to acknowledge the imperial expansion practiced by the East, between the demand for universal human rights in foreign policy and the repressive politics in the country itself, as well as between the anti-racism proclaimed by the state and the real living and working conditions of foreign contract workers and students.

asiatisch gelesene Frau lehnt auf einem Kleiderständer — **Matthias Rietschel, aus der Serie Vietnamesen in Dresden, 1987–1990**

With Revolutionary Romances?, the Albertinum is approaching for the first time – through study, questioning, self-criticism and in the face of many gaps in knowledge – a topical subject area which the Dresden collections are only now beginning to investigate. To achieve the goal of discussing the art history of the GDR in a global, transcultural context, further art historical, historical and artistic research is needed – research in which the perspectives and the expertise of people from the Global South are seen and heard.

Portrait Che Guevaras in bunten Farben — **Raúl Martínez, Filmplakat "El Che y Camilo", 1968**

Bilderwand mit Texten — **Sven Johne, Bilder der Stadt Vinh, 2009**

**José Toirac, Hasta la victoria siempre, 1995**

Foto aus der Vogelperspektive auf einem Platz mit vielen Kindern — **Wenke Seemann, Proletarier der DDR, klebt Marken/Wir haben alle Verpflichtungen erfüllt, aus Solidarität, Archivdialoge #2 – Staatsbürger, 2022**

Grafik einer Mannes mit einem Schriftzug — **Hamlet Lavastida, Congreso Nacional de Educación y Cultura 1971, Heberto Padilla, aus der Serie Cultura Profiláctica [Kultur der Prävention], 2020–2021**

abstrakte Portraits mehrerer Personen — **Hartwig Ebersbach, Widmung an Chile, 1974**

abstrakter Sonnenuntergang — **Kattingeri Krishna Hebbar, Der Abend, 1967**

Fotos auf einer Unterlage — **Sonya Schönberger, Geschmortes Herz, 2022**

Unterhose eines Mannes mit Aufschrift — **Blaster Al Ackerman, Meine Unterhose zur Kunst machen, 1978**

zwei abstrakte Personen auf schwarzem Hintergrund — **Martha Ketsela, Das Glück der Erde, Künstlermappe mit Aphorismen und Holzschnitten, 1980**

Papier mit Zeichnung eines Flusses — **Lea Grundig, Schiffe auf einem Fluss bei Wuhan, 1960**

Mann mit roter Fahne und Blume in der Hand — **Sami Hakki, o.T. (Selbstbildnis mit roter Fahne), 1968**

schwarz-weiß Fotografie mit einem Mietshaus, Baum und angeschnittenen Auto — **Jürgen Nagel, Ho-Chi-Minh-Oberschule, Berlin-Friedrichshagen, 1979**

The exhibition's education space offers visitors the opportunity to participate in this process through their individual perspectives. At the end of the exhibition the cooperation with the association Kultur Aktiv e.V. is presented. Accompanying the exhibition in the Treffpunkt ostZONE, the association invites to a transgenerational and transcultural dialogue. The exhibition will also be accompanied by an extensive educational program on the topics of art and socialism, travel and migration, and solidarity.

Program

Currently no dates

Publication accompanying the exhibition

Revolutionary Romances? Globale Kunstgeschichten in der DDR

Herausgeber: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden; Mathias Wagner, Hilke Wagner, Kerstin Schankweiler, Kathleen Reinhardt, 176 Seiten, Erscheinungsdatum 2024, Spector Books, ISBN 978-3-95905-781-3, 19,80 € im Museumsbuchshop / 25 € im Handel