Andrea Wechlin Director | Correctional Facility for Women, Hindelbank, Canton Bern | Former Coordinator Violence Prevention & Co-Head of the Women Shelter, Lucerne | Lucerne
Suna Kircali Co-Management | Avanti Donne, Association – Advocacy Group for Women and Girls with Disabilities | Uster
2017-2021 Judith Hanhart Former head of Department Social Policy & Advocacy | AGILE.CH – The organizations of people with disabilities | Former head of the Bern Intervention Center against Domestic Violence, “pom” | Berne
in collaboration with Canton of St. Gallen, Coordination office Domestic Violence, Domestic Violence Shelter St. Gallen & Association Friends for Kashmir
Verónica González Actress El Buen Camino 9880 | Peñalolén | Santiago de Chile & Malucho Pinto DirectorFUNDACIÓN ARACATACA, NGO committing to improving coexistence in the neighborhood and community | Santiago de Chile
Las mujeres recibieron las blusas blancas que viajaron desde Franciska Greber hasta ellas para que estampen, descifren su grito de chilenas en ellas. Las blusas formarán parte de una próxima instalación de Women in the Dark. pic.twitter.com/bKm0ITNuqO
— Fundación Aracataca (@AracatacaCrea) June 18, 2018
Micha Klapp | State Secretary for Labor, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination for the State of Berlin
Vernissage
INVISIBLE | 2024 steel frame | wire mesh | red clothes | 400 cm height | Ø 220 cm
BACKWARDS | 2024 steel frame | wire mesh | fabric | black shirts | Ø 300 cm
WOMEN | 2024 mattresses | bed linen | pillows | sheets | carpets Video | 20:00 min
18 women from 6 countries read the text, which they wrote on a white shirt (in India on a scarf) . They talk about their experiences of discrimination and violence.
SILENCE(D) | 2024 walkable spiral | 6 questions on the wall | steel frame | plywood | 350 height | Ø 400 cm
3 socio-political and 3 personal questions on the topic of silence and speaking:
What should we talk about? — Is there something I have never told anyone? What do we avoid? — What are my fears? What changes are needed to lead this dialogue? — What requirements are needed to discuss my concern?
Senator Cansel Kiziltepe | Senator for Labor, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination for the State of Berlin
60 women read 60 texts, written by women from Germany
FACETS OF PARTICIPATION | 2022 Video | 75:00 min
BOOK | 2021 700 pages | stone | wire rope
the book includes all 690 texts – written by women from Germany on their shirts – in the original language and the German translation
BACKSTAGE | 2024 China: Video | 03:07 min India: Video | 03:37 min Mauritius: Video | 02:31 min
AND NOW … ? Transdisciplinary responses to 690 voices
The discussion offers a platform for exchange between experts from the fields of art, society and politics and the audience. The event was organized by BIG e.V. with the support of the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband Berlin
WOMEN IN THE DARK was awarded an art prize by THE POWER OF THE ARTS. The jury states that the project “positions itself against looking the other way and remaining silent and is convincing not only through its relevance, but also through its high artistic quality.”
Video | 03:08 min (Excerpt of the 15-minute Performance)
TALK
AND NOW … ? Transdisciplinary responses to 690 voices
The discussion offers a platform for exchange between experts from the fields of art, society and politics and the audience. The event was organized by BIG e.V. with the support of the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband Berlin
SUPPORT ‘The Power of the Arts‘ by Philip Morris GmbH BMU Veranstaltungstechnik | Berlin
OPENING SPEECHES Senator Cansel Kiziltepe | Senator for Labor, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination for the State of Berlin Jana Sperling | Director Stiftung Reinbeckhallen | Collection for Contemporary Art | Berlin Dr. Doris Felbinger | Managing Director BIG Berlin | Collaboration Partner WOMEN IN THE DARK Germany | Collaboration Partner for the Exhibition WOMEN IN THE DARK – aufruhr des schweigens, Reinbeckhallen Patricia Kielinger | Former Coordinator BIG | Psychosocial Supporter in Criminal Trials | Project Partner WOMEN IN THE DARK Germany
Micha Klapp | State Secretary for Labor, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination for the State of Berlin
Vernissage
INVISIBLE | 2024 steel frame | wire mesh | red clothes | 400 cm height | Ø 220 cm
BACKWARDS | 2024 steel frame | wire mesh | fabric | black shirts | Ø 300 cm
WOMEN | 2024mattresses | bed linen | pillows | sheets | carpets Video | 20:00 min
18 women from 6 countries read the text, which they wrote on a white shirt (in India on a scarf) . They talk about their experiences of discrimination and violence.
SILENCE(D) | 2024
walkable spiral | 6 questions on the wall | steel frame | plywood | 350 height | Ø 400 cm
3 socio-political and 3 personal questions on the topic of silence and speaking:
What should we talk about? — Is there something I have never told anyone? What do we avoid? — What are my fears? What changes are needed to lead this dialogue? — What requirements are needed to discuss my concern?
Senator Cansel Kiziltepe | Senator for Labor, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination for the State of Berlin
WOMEN IN THE DARK was awarded an art prize by THE POWER OF THE ARTS. The jury states that the project “positions itself against looking the other way and remaining silent and is convincing not only through its relevance, but also through its high artistic quality.”
Video | 03:08 min (Excerpt of the 15-minute Performance)
TALK
AND NOW … ? Transdisciplinary responses to 690 voices
The discussion offers a platform for exchange between experts from the fields of art, society and politics and the audience. The event was organized by BIG e.V. with the support of the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband Berlin
SUPPORT ‘The Power of the Arts‘ by Philip Morris GmbH BMU Veranstaltungstechnik | Berlin
OPENING SPEECHES Senator Cansel Kiziltepe | Senator for Labor, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination for the State of Berlin Jana Sperling | Director Stiftung Reinbeckhallen | Collection for Contemporary Art | Berlin Dr. Doris Felbinger | Managing Director BIG Berlin | Collaboration Partner WOMEN IN THE DARK Germany | Collaboration Partner for the Exhibition WOMEN IN THE DARK – aufruhr des schweigens, Reinbeckhallen Patricia Kielinger | Former Coordinator BIG | Psychosocial Supporter in Criminal Trials | Project Partner WOMEN IN THE DARK Germany
Micha Klapp | State Secretary for Labor, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination for the State of Berlin
Vernissage
INVISIBLE | 2024 steel frame | wire mesh | red clothes | 400 cm height | Ø 220 cm
BACKWARDS | 2024 steel frame | wire mesh | fabric | black shirts | Ø 300 cm
WOMEN | 2024
mattresses | bed linen | pillows | sheets | carpets Video | 20:00 min
18 women from 6 countries read the text, which they wrote on a white shirt (in India on a scarf) . They talk about their experiences of discrimination and violence.
SILENCE(D) | 2024
walkable spiral | 6 questions on the wall | steel frame | plywood | 350 height | Ø 400 cm
3 socio-political and 3 personal questions on the topic of silence and speaking:
What should we talk about? — Is there something I have never told anyone? What do we avoid? — What are my fears? What changes are needed to lead this dialogue? — What requirements are needed to discuss my concern?
Senator Cansel Kiziltepe | Senator for Labor, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination for the State of Berlin
60 women read 60 texts, written by women from Germany
FACETS OF PARTICIPATION | 2022 Video | 75:00 min
BOOK | 2021 700 pages | stone | wire rope
the book includes all 690 texts – written by women from Germany on their shirts – in the original language and the German translation
BACKSTAGE | 2024 China: Video | 03:07 min India: Video | 03:37 min Mauritius: Video | 02:31 min
AND NOW … ? Transdisciplinary responses to 690 voices
The discussion offers a platform for exchange between experts from the fields of art, society and politics and the audience. The event was organized by BIG e.V. with the support of the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband Berlin
WOMEN IN THE DARK was awarded an art prize by THE POWER OF THE ARTS. The jury states that the project “positions itself against looking the other way and remaining silent and is convincing not only through its relevance, but also through its high artistic quality.”
Video | 03:08 min (Excerpt of the 15-minute Performance)
TALK
AND NOW … ? Transdisciplinary responses to 690 voices
The discussion offers a platform for exchange between experts from the fields of art, society and politics and the audience. The event was organized by BIG e.V. with the support of the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband Berlin
SUPPORT ‘The Power of the Arts‘ by Philip Morris GmbH BMU Veranstaltungstechnik | Berlin
OPENING SPEECHES Senator Cansel Kiziltepe | Senator for Labor, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination for the State of Berlin Jana Sperling | Director Stiftung Reinbeckhallen | Collection for Contemporary Art | Berlin Dr. Doris Felbinger | Managing Director BIG Berlin | Collaboration Partner WOMEN IN THE DARK Germany | Collaboration Partner for the Exhibition WOMEN IN THE DARK – aufruhr des schweigens, Reinbeckhallen Patricia Kielinger | Former Coordinator BIG | Psychosocial Supporter in Criminal Trials | Project Partner WOMEN IN THE DARK Germany
Micha Klapp | State Secretary for Labor, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination for the State of Berlin
Vernissage
INVISIBLE | 2024 steel frame | wire mesh | red clothes | 400 cm height | Ø 220 cm
BACKWARDS | 2024 steel frame | wire mesh | fabric | black shirts | Ø 300 cm
WOMEN | 2024mattresses | bed linen | pillows | sheets | carpets Video | 20:00 min
18 women from 6 countries read the text, which they wrote on a white shirt (in India on a scarf) . They talk about their experiences of discrimination and violence.
SILENCE(D) | 2024walkable spiral with 6 questions | steel frame | plywood | 350 height | Ø 400 cm
3 socio-political and 3 personal questions on the topic of silence and speaking:
What should we talk about? — Is there something I have never told anyone? What do we avoid? — What are my fears? What changes are needed to lead this dialogue? — What requirements are needed to discuss my concern?
Senator Cansel Kiziltepe | Senator for Labor, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination for the State of Berlin
60 women read 60 texts, written by women from Germany
FACETS OF PARTICIPATION | 2022 Video | 75:00 min
BOOK | 2021 700 pages | stone | wire rope
the book includes all 690 texts – written by women from Germany on their shirts – in the original language and the German translation
BACKSTAGE | 2024 China: Video | 03:07 min India: Video | 03:37 min Mauritius: Video | 02:31 min
AND NOW … ? Transdisciplinary responses to 690 voices
The discussion offers a platform for exchange between experts from the fields of art, society and politics and the audience. The event was organized by BIG e.V. with the support of the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband Berlin
WOMEN IN THE DARK was awarded an art prize by THE POWER OF THE ARTS. The jury states that the project “positions itself against looking the other way and remaining silent and is convincing not only through its relevance, but also through its high artistic quality.”
Video | 03:08 min (Excerpt of the 15-minute Performance)
TALK
AND NOW … ? Transdisciplinary responses to 690 voices
The discussion offers a platform for exchange between experts from the fields of art, society and politics and the audience. The event was organized by BIG e.V. with the support of the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband Berlin
SUPPORT ‘The Power of the Arts‘ by Philip Morris GmbH BMU Veranstaltungstechnik | Berlin
OPENING SPEECHES Senator Cansel Kiziltepe | Senator for Labor, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination for the State of Berlin Jana Sperling | Director Stiftung Reinbeckhallen | Collection for Contemporary Art | Berlin Dr. Doris Felbinger | Managing Director BIG Berlin | Collaboration Partner WOMEN IN THE DARK Germany | Collaboration Partner for the Exhibition WOMEN IN THE DARK – aufruhr des schweigens, Reinbeckhallen Patricia Kielinger | Former Coordinator BIG | Psychosocial Supporter in Criminal Trials | Project Partner WOMEN IN THE DARK Germany
Micha Klapp | State Secretary for Labor, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination for the State of Berlin
Vernissage
INVISIBLE | 2024 steel frame | wire mesh | red clothes | 400 cm height | Ø 220 cm
BACKWARDS | 2024 steel frame | wire mesh | fabric | black shirts | Ø 300 cm
WOMEN | 2024mattresses | bed linen | pillows | sheets | carpets Video | 20:00 min
18 women from 6 countries read the text, which they wrote on a white shirt (in India on a scarf) . They talk about their experiences of discrimination and violence.
SILENCE(D) | 2024walkable spiral with 6 questions | steel frame | plywood | 350 height | Ø 400 cm
Senator Cansel Kiziltepe | Senator for Labor, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination for the State of Berlin
60 women read 60 texts, written by women from Germany
FACETS OF PARTICIPATION | 2022 Video | 75:00 min
BOOK | 2021 700 pages | stone | wire rope
the book includes all 690 texts – written by women from Germany on their shirts – in the original language and the German translation
BACKSTAGE | 2024 China: Video | 03:07 min India: Video | 03:37 min Mauritius: Video | 02:31 min
AND NOW … ? Transdisciplinary responses to 690 voices
The discussion offers a platform for exchange between experts from the fields of art, society and politics and the audience. The event was organized by BIG e.V. with the support of the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband Berlin
WOMEN IN THE DARK was awarded an art prize by THE POWER OF THE ARTS. The jury states that the project “positions itself against looking the other way and remaining silent and is convincing not only through its relevance, but also through its high artistic quality.”
Video | 03:08 min (Excerpt of the 15-minute Performance)
TALK
AND NOW … ? Transdisciplinary responses to 690 voices
The discussion offers a platform for exchange between experts from the fields of art, society and politics and the audience. The event was organized by BIG e.V. with the support of the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband Berlin
SUPPORT ‘The Power of the Arts‘ by Philip Morris GmbH BMU Veranstaltungstechnik | Berlin
OPENING SPEECHES Senator Cansel Kiziltepe | Senator for Labor, Social Affairs, Equality, Integration, Diversity and Anti-Discrimination for the State of Berlin Jana Sperling | Director Stiftung Reinbeckhallen | Collection for Contemporary Art | Berlin Dr. Doris Felbinger | Managing Director BIG Berlin | Collaboration Partner WOMEN IN THE DARK Germany | Collaboration Partner for the Exhibition WOMEN IN THE DARK – aufruhr des schweigens, Reinbeckhallen Patricia Kielinger | Former Coordinator BIG | Psychosocial Supporter in Criminal Trials | Project Partner WOMEN IN THE DARK Germany
Pinakothek der Moderne | Denkraum Deutschland | Munich | Germany | 2021
Group Exhibition
in collaboration with Miro Craemer | Curator & Initiator | DENKRAUM DEUTSCHLAND | Pinakothek der Moderne Pia Brüner | Art Education | Pinakothek der Moderne | Munich
WOMEN IN THE DARK – aufruhr des schweigens | 2021 shirts | fabric | 600 x 2000 cm
The installation consists of white shirts with texts in around 40 languages by 690 women from Germany who have written their experiences with discrimination and violence, but also hopes and demands, on these clothing with a red pen.
WOMEN | 2021 Video | 20:00 min
17 women from 5 countries (Zimbabwe, Switzerland, China, India and Mauritius) read their text, which they wrote with a red pen on white clothing. It is about their experiences with discrimination and violence.
The video work WOMEN is part of the international, transdisciplinary and participatory art project WOMEN IN THE DARK.
HE(A)R | 2021 Audio-Installation | 60:00 min
60 women each read a text, written by 60 women from Germany – selected from the 690 shirts.
BOOK | 2021 661 transcribed texts translated into German, 29 photos – each page of the book shows one text or a shirt, written by a woman from Germany.
HOW SOCIAL IS ART? Chances and limits of an interaction
Mit Kunst gegen sexualisierte Gewalt? February 14, 2019 | Radio Dreyeckland | Germany Interview with Claudia Meise | Notruf Göttingen | participating in WOMEN IN THE DARK (in German) 1:58 min
From left: Pia Brüner | Carolina Trautner | Franziska Greber | Antje Krüger | Dr. Monika Schröttle | Susan Bühler, DieKulturBotschaft, Moderator | Miro Craemer, initiator & curator DENKRAUM DEUTSCHLAND
Carolina Trautner | Bavarian State Minister for Family, Labor and Social Affairs, Commissioner for Women’s Issues of the Bavarian State Government « […] that many women have written down their oppressive stories here in order to then strike their liberation blow on this wall. I find that incredibly impressive – I think it’s ingenious, linking social issues and art.»
Pia Brüner | Art Education Pinakothek der Moderne « […] because through Franziska Greber’s art people come into contact with each other on very different levels. […] it’s a wonderful example for me of how I imagine the museum, as a lively place, as a socially relevant place, and as a place where people meet and exchange ideas.»
Dr. Monika Schröttle | Political and Social Scientist « […] This scientific, political and artistic approach and bringing together […] is a whole other level of seeing and recognizing things […] you want to climb up a ladder and read everything […] and like to do more and further evaluate these treasures that are in there.»
BACKSTAGE – Experiences with the international art project WOMEN IN THE DARK Workshop with the artist & initiator Franziska Greber and other participants in the project
Antje Krüger & Patricia Kielinger, project partners and coordinators WOMEN IN THE DARK Germany | Doris Felbinger, BIG e.V. Berliner Initiative gegen Gewalt an Frauen (BIG e.V. and der PARITÄTISCHE Bayern implemented WOMEN IN THE DARK – aufruhr des schweigens in Germany) | Ute Brechtelsbauer (Frauenhaus Nürnberg, one of over 100 organizations from 12 federal states that accompanied the women’s writing process) | Nina Wurman (implementation of the sound installation) | Michael Wladarsch (implementation of the book) | Anja Papenfuss (participant in the sewing process)
Antje Krüger | Project Partner WOMEN IN THE DARK Germany «The idea to do that came up in Switzerland when you presented to us, what you had done in other countries – and then for us very quickly the thought that this is also possible here with us. […] Before that, it was partly unimaginable. […] There are always people who you can inspire with this idea […] The theme of this DENKRAUM ‘feminine’ and the examination of the potential of femininity in art and society, that also has something to do with this project.»
Michael Wladarsch| cultural organizer, artist & designer «Your art […] creates an abstract size, which is simply not comprehensible, to open […] where one is touched. […] The care with which each individual shirt, each individual woman, each fate is valued and also respected […] and that, in my view, distinguishes an art that interferes and that is political and that also has a statement. […] an artist who has very good ideas and a very good concept to make a situation visible.»
Nina Wurman | Musician «It was very clear to me that I was doing this. […] Everything kind of fell into place. […] What I totally underestimated is what it means for women to read these texts.»
Ute Brechtelsbauer | Social Worker « […] exciting how the mood has changed […] suddenly a spirit of upbeat has arisen […]. I was here with five women […] it was so moving.»
Anja Papenfuss | Young BPW – Business and Professional Women Club «I was able to become part of such a big whole […] that alone made a big impression on me […] it was quite an extraordinary work for me.»
SUPPORT Bayerisches Staatsministeriumfür Familie, Arbeit und Soziales
CURATORS Miro Craemer | Artist and Social Designer | Initiator TOGETTHERE-Experience: GIVE ME 5 | DENKRAUM DEUTSCHLAND | Munich | Germany Pia Brüner | Art Education | Pinakothek der Moderne | Munich | Germany
Franziska Greber in collaboration with * Der PARITÄTISCHE in Bayern (Antje Krüger, Projectpartner WOMEN IN THE DARK Germany * Berliner Initiative gegen Gewalt an Frauen BIG e.V. (Patricia Kielinger, Projectpartner WOMEN IN THE DARK Germany) for the nationwide organization and coordination of the institutions involved * Frauenunterstützungssystem in Germany and their staff for carrying out the writing process and accompanying the women * all the people who transcribed the texts on the shirts and translated them into almost 40 languages * Nina Wurman for her collaboration in planning and realizing the audio installation HE(A)R * 84 GHz in Munich for conceptual thinking and realization of the BOOK
