Weissenhof City

Many of the architects, designers and artists associated with the Bauhaus lived, worked and left their mark in Stuttgart. In the 1920s the city underwent major cultural and political upheavals, and eventually became a “laboratory of modernism” thanks to the influence of Neues Bauen (New Building) and Neues Sehen (New Vision). Against this background, the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart was planning an experimental and investigative exhibition in cooperation with international artists. As an institution committed to active knowledge production, the museum aimed to investigate and communicate site-specific ideas in a concrete and exemplary manner, and highlight the history, stories and historical reception of the Bauhaus with a view to current global issues. How can we build on the ambitions of the Bauhaus and the universal claim of modernism – as manifested in its lasting influence in Stuttgart – and make productive use of legitimate criticism? How can we take advantage of its utopian surplus to address the challenges of migration, globalisation and climate change today? The participating artists explored the city and investigated the collections of the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart in search of this specific “laboratory of modernism” in hopes that history can offer an alternative to our present time. From the perspective of our globalised world today, the artists investigated the Bauhaus cosmos of Stuttgart and took visitors with them on a tour of the city away from the beaten paths. The contributions included radio plays, paintings, films, installations, interventions and walking tours.

Artistic director: Alice Koegel, Aristide Antonas (GR)
Participating artists: Dani Gal (IL), Michaela Melián, Christian Petzold, R. H. Quaytman (US), Martin Schmidl, Boris Sieverts, Wolfgang Tillmans