Opening Ceremony Mr. Adrian Wehrli, Honorary Consul General of Switzerland | Mrs. M.A.J. Jaunbocus, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry | Mrs. Franziska Greber, Artist | Hon Mrs. Fazila Jeewa-Daureeawoo, Vice Prime Minister of Mauritius | Mrs. Mohini Bali, Chairperson of the National Women’s Council
OPENING SPEECHES Hon Mrs. Fazila Jeewa-Daureeawoo | Vice-Prime Minister of Local Government and Outer Islands and Minister of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare Mr. Krishna Luchoomun | Artist, curator & art teacher Mahatma Gandhi Institut. Mr. Krishna Luchoomun represented the Mauritian Pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale
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
in collaboration with Sarah Kesselberg | state coordinator against domestic and sexualized violence CORA | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Die Beginen | Frauen Kulturverein Rostock State Council for Crime Prevention | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern HMT Hochschule für Musik und Theater | Rostock
Rostock town hall reports environment and society 11/30/2022 Minister for Justice, Equality and Consumer Protection Jacqueline Bernhardt is patron of the exhibition ‘WOMEN IN THE DARK – aufruhr des schweigens’.
Baden-Württemberg was one of 12 federal states of Germany participating in WOMEN IN THE DARK Germany. 690 women wrote their experiences, hopes and demands on white shirts with red permanent markers.
aufruhr des schweigens | 2023 shirts | fabric | cardboard boxes | red carpet | 120 m2
WOMEN | 2022 Video | 20:00 min
BOOK | 2021 700 pages | including all texts written on the shirts in the original language and the German translation
HE(A)R | 2021 60 women read 60 texts in 11 languages – selected from the 690 shirts, written by women from Germany Audio installation | 60 min
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OPENING SPEECHES Antje Krüger | Poject Partner | WOMEN IN THE DARK Germany Lars Hopp | Board Member | Director Sparkasse| Freiburg Saskia Tröndle | Board Member Frauen- und Kinderschutzhaus & Freiburger Fachstelle Intervention gegen Häusliche Gewalt (FRIG) Dipl. Ing. agr. Nicoline von Brasch | Managing Director | Klinik in der Zarten | Hinterzarten
Opening Ceremony Mr. Adrian Wehrli, Honorary Consul General of Switzerland | Mrs. M.A.J. Jaunbocus, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry | Mrs. Franziska Greber, Artist | Hon Mrs. Fazila Jeewa-Daureeawoo, Vice Prime Minister of Mauritius | Mrs. Mohini Bali, Chairperson of the National Women’s Council
OPENING SPEECHES Hon Mrs. Fazila Jeewa-Daureeawoo | Vice-Prime Minister of Local Government and Outer Islands and Minister of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare Mr. Krishna Luchoomun | Artist, curator & art teacher Mahatma Gandhi Institut. Mr. Krishna Luchoomun represented the Mauritian Pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale
