Scraps of news flicker across a large screen at the entrance to the exhibition. What they have in common: politicians and other important people demand solidarity. Of course, Angela Merkel, Donald Trump, the Pope, Munich’s Cardinal Reinhard Marx and others have very different reasons for their appeals. But one thing becomes clear: Solidarity is a term that is constantly appearing in speeches, albeit in changing contexts. Whether the visitor is of course “Who cares?”, That is the title of the show in the Augsburg Textile and Industry Museum (tim), rather with “Who cares?” or “Who cares?” should translate remains open. Although the exhibition, which is well worth seeing, provides plenty of clear answers and even more sobering facts.
For museum director Karl Borromäus Murr, solidarity is not alms, not an act of mercy, but “support on an equal footing – support that, based on the principle of human equality, helps the weaker to be entitled to their rights, even if the person helping has to accept disadvantages”. Since the corona pandemic has turned many things upside down in all areas of life, he thought it was time to shed light on the principle of solidarity from many angles in cooperation with the University of Augsburg. Also from the historical perspective of the labor movement in the 19th and 20th centuries, in which the term played an essential role. Not only in Bert Brecht’s solidarity song, with which the film “Kuhle Wampe or: Whom does the world belong to?” (1932) ends. At this point in time, the trade unions had been fighting for better working conditions and common resistance to the unreasonable demands of industrialization, if necessary with the help of strikes.
Glass greenhouses
The struggle for solidarity has remained a central challenge of the present, regardless of whether it is about climate, flight, consumption, health or art and culture. The furnishing of the exhibition makes it unmistakably clear that everything is related to everything else. Glass greenhouses, through which the visitor walks, ensure the necessary transparency, do not allow one topic to be considered without the other.
Infusion tubes and blood products dangle in one of the fragile houses – a simple and convincing example of solidarity in the health sector. In another glass house, neon letters cross with headlines from the last few months, tell of the number of infections, corona deaths and current stock exchange prices. The initial equipment set on the emergency bed that receives refugees is sobering, and Erkan Özgen’s film “Wonderland” (2016) is impressive. The Turkish artist has Muhammad, a deaf-mute boy from a Syrian village near the Turkish border, use gestures to tell about his escape and the murders he witnessed. In addition, the sober information that 250 to 300 million people fled violence, lack of freedom and hunger in the 20th century.
A forest of signs welcomes visitors at the entrance to the exhibition.
(Photo: Frauke Wichmann)
In an environmental glass house, ticking clocks are reminiscent of the impending climate catastrophe, charred trees call to mind clearing and burning. The exhibition also has many interactive islands. If you want, you can take the naturalization test, but you can also consider which of the 16 boxes you would like to donate your play money to. Emergency and disaster relief, the sports club or would you prefer your favorite shop? If you feel like it, you can also paint your own demonstration poster. Or in view of the finding that 40 percent of the clothes in the wardrobes are rarely or not at all worn, they start pondering about their own consumer behavior. And study texts about cotton cultivation, supply chains or the negative consequences for workers in textile factories. There is little sign of solidarity.
As far as art and culture are concerned, the museum has created space for an aesthetic experiment. Under the leadership of Utopia Toolbox, an international art collective, action in solidarity is made tangible together with the visitors.
The show ends in front of an empty glass house. Using a felt pen on the panes of glass, visitors answer the question of where they show solidarity in their lives. “I listen to others,” wrote one. Not a bad start.
Who cares? Rediscover solidarity. Special exhibition until January 23, State Textile and Industry Museum Augsburg