State Minister for Culture Neumann initiates establishment of “Künste im Exil” network by German National Library
Press release: 5.2.2013
“Künste im Exil” is to be the name of the virtual exhibition and network devoted to exile and emigration - of writers, film makers, artists, theatrical artists, musicians etc. State Minister for Culture Bernd Neumann has now approved EUR 745,000 of financing for the first three years. The platform planned by the German Excile Archive 1933-1945 (Deutsches Exilarchiv 1933 -1945) of the German National Library, in which the Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach and other partners are also to be involved, brings together different explorations of the subject in different locations and in temporary exhibitions, thereby opening it up to a broader audience. The link to the German Excile Archive 1933-1945 and the close collaboration with the Deutsches Literaturarchiv provide a permanent home for the subject of exile in the public's awareness. The virtual umbrella of the network links other institutions to the museum and unites the work on different aspects of the subject.
Independently of this, the German National Library is also reinforcing its activities in this field at its Frankfurt site. A structural extension will permit the German Excile Archive 1933-1945 to improve the presentation of its collections and allow it to intensify its activities in the field of exhibitions and events.
“Menschen fallen aus Deutschland” was the title of the open letter which Nobel prize winner for literature Herta Müller wrote last autumn to the Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel in which she spoke out for the creation of a museum of exile. The increased commitment paves the way for a new, broader awareness of exile and for actively combating anti-Semitism and xenophobia.
State Minister for Culture Bernd Neumann declared: “'The arts in exile' is a subject of great social importance in Germany, with its double history of dictatorship. Thousands of authors and artists in the fields of theatre, film, photography, dance, music and the fine arts had to leave Germany once the National Socialists assumed power. The Nazi reign of terror and the communist dictatorship which followed in eastern Germany are part of the history and identity of our country.”
“The planned network will bring together the recollections of individuals, especially artists, who suffered expulsion and make them part of society's collective consciousness,” explained the State Minister. “Accounts of what happened to the artists who were driven into exile between 1933 and 1945 are combined with reports about later cases of exile and emigration from the former GDR and eastern Europe. Such an understanding sensitises people to the plight of today's exiles.“
Elisabeth Niggemann, Director General of the German National Library, explains: “Knowing about the past is essential if we are to create an awareness of history as a pillar of democratic society. At different times and in different places there have been many exhibitions in Germany devoted to the subject of exile, but up to now it has never had a fixed institutional home. A virtual “Künste im Exil“ museum organised under the overall control of the German Excile Archive 1933-1945 of the German National Library in cooperation with the Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach and other similar collections, plus links to exhibitions at our building in Frankfurt will provide such a base in the future.“
Ulrich Raulff, Director of the Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach, welcomes the partnership as it grants greater visibility and social relevance to research into and the imparting of knowledge about the subject. “Marbach - of the most important collections of exile literature in the world, including the estates of authors such as Alfred Döblin, Mascha Kaléko, Siegfried Kracauer, Else Lasker-Schüler, Heinrich and Thomas Mann, Kurt Pinthus and Carl Zuckmayer - will also be bundling and expanding its research and communication work in this area. “Exile” is already one of the central topics in the Literaturmuseum der Moderne.“
The virtual exhibition and the network
The virtual exhibition focuses on different facets of art in exile. It will look at the reasons for emigration and examine the historical context. It will also explore the receiving countries, the work of the artists as emigrants and the topics addressed by exiled artists. Further aspects include exile groups, political commitment, remigration and reception. It will be possible to access “arts in exile” content geographically, chronologically, biographically and thematically. Each topic will be illustrated by exhibits from the Deutsches Exilarchiv, the Deutsches Literaturarchiv and other collections. Multimedia and fun-based elements designed to appeal to a younger audience will be integrated to encourage interaction.
Temporary and virtual exhibitions from other institutions can also be incorporated here. They will allow the concepts of exile and emigration to be disengaged from specific times, and permit links to be established between historical and current forms of exile.
Further institutions and initiatives concerned with the topic of art in exile will also be able to present their work. In addition there will be a calendar of events providing an overview of exhibitions, readings, lectures and conferences on the subject.
Schedule
This year, to coincide with the centenary celebrations of the German National Library, the German Excile Archive 1933 - 1945 of the German National Library, and the Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach will be staging the “Fremd bin ich den Menschen dort” exhibition, focusing on exile from 1933 to 1945. Based on exhibits from the collections this aims to show what exile and emigration actually meant to those affected. The exhibition will be officially opened on 29 August in Frankfurt am Main. To accompany the exhibition the Marbach staff will be presenting their holdings in a series of events held at the German National Library. On show will be “time capsules” on Hilde Domin and Erwin Walter Palm (12.9.), Mascha Kaléko (26.9.) and Schalom Ben Chorin (5.10.).
In the second half of 2012 the German Excile Archive 1933-1945 will be organising a large-scale exhibition entitled “So wurde ihnen die Flucht zur Heima” dedicated to the two writers Joseph Roth and Soma Morgenstern. This exhibition opens on 6 November and it, too, will feature a Marbach “time capsule” (12.12., Tarabas. Joseph Roth und sein erster Exilroman). The first virtual exhibition - “Künste im Exil” - will go online in summer 2013. All modules will be complete by the end of 2014. The building extension in Frankfurt is scheduled for completion by the end of 2014.
Background
The German Excile Archive 1933-1945 of the German National Library was founded shortly after the War by exiled writers and publicists. Part of their motivation for founding such an institution was to create an instrument of political instruction. The first books in the Frankfurt collection were gifts from emigrants. The German Excile Archive 1933-1945 has remained faithful to this tradition ever since. Holding collections of exile publications and personal estates, it is a place dedicated to the safeguarding and preservation of publications and unprinted testimony of German-speaking emigration. In 1965 the Frankfurt exile collection went on public display for the first time when the “Exilliteratur 1933 - 1945” exhibition was staged. Documenting all aspects of exile, the exhibition was displayed in more than 20 different locations in Germany and abroad in the subsequent years. Together with the catalogue, which was conceived as a manual and reader, it did a great deal to awaken the interest of researchers and the general public in the Republic of Germany in different aspects of emigration and exile. With its events, exhibitions and guided tours, the German Excile Archive 1933-1945 has played a significant role in actively communicating the preserved past ever since, helping bring it alive and restoring what was forgotten due to exile and emigration to the collective cultural memory.
Since being founded in 1955 the role of the Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach has been that of a collection point and repository for exile literature and a centre for exile research. Saving and collecting the parts of German-speaking literature scattered as the result of persecution and expulsion was one of the priorities of the former director Bernhard Zeller. The goal of providing a “home for exile literature” was also pursued by the curators of the first major Marbach exhibitions which restored the writers who were burned and condemned during the Nazi dictatorship to the collective consciousness of the nascent Federal Republic. And it is a goal which is still being pursued to this day as a result of the institution's acquisition, exhibition and events policies.
The German Excile Archive 1933-1945 of the German National Library and the Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach, with their respective approaches, both gave their firm support to Herta Müller's plea for the creation of an exile museum in Germany. The partnership established between the two institutions to organise an exhibition on the subject of exile is now to be continued and intensified. The decision to hold Deutsches Literaturarchiv exhibitions in Marbach represents a further location dedicated to the subject of exile besides the exhibitions and events in Frankfurt. The virtual exhibition constitutes a third location and opens up the topic to further institutions and target groups. It can be built upon the foundations of existing archives and museums, and can take advantage of established economic structures yet remain, like the subject itself, decentralised and exterritorial - despite enjoying a nationally organised and homogenous public profile.
