Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
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Fränkische Schweiz Museum Tüchersfeld
Thu 7 April - Sun 19 June 2011
Pictures in Our Head.
Images of Others and of Ourselves in Europe
An exhibition by the National Museums' Museum of European Cultures, as part of the Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage's federal programme
Stereotypes label groups of people to whom certain, easily recognisable characteristics and habits are assigned. As constructs, they play an important role in the question of identity. They are a way to guide individuals in a complex world. They are pictures in our heads.
This exhibition is not concerned with the search for truth or lies. It portrays stereotypes as necessary conveyors of the existence of others and of ourselves. The exhibition does not aim to break with stereotypes, but to unlock their visual language and the history of their dissemination by way of concrete examples. The depiction of stereotypes in advertising, popular children's prints (known as 'Bilderbogen') in 17th and 18th century German-speaking countries, as well as on political posters, as souvenirs and as caricatures bring 'the others' into our daily life as they relate to ourselves. As a result, Switzerland becomes the land of Heidi, Germans become a people of beer drinkers and Norway a nation of wearers of traditional costume. Despite their apparent differences, such stereotypes in fact share a common formal language and are derived from similar historical processes.
The exhibition amounts to a 'visual machine' in which the historical objects on display are linked with cultivated stereotypes devised by the artist Mareike Hölter. Various visual stimuli allow the visitor to retrace and identify the stereotypes.
Presented by:
Museum Europäischer Kulturen
© National Museums in Berlin, Museum of European Cultures