Signs against the War

In commemoration of the outbreak of the First World War one hundred years ago, the Lehmbruck Museum in Duisburg presented an exhibition of contemporary artwork which portrayed individuals exposed to military aggression around the world. The starting point of the exhibition was Wilhelm Lehmbruck’s sculpture “Gestürzter” (“Fallen”) of 1914 – a masterpiece which he created in reaction to the war and which stands in radical contrast to the image of the heroic soldier. Featuring works by 21 international artists including Marina Abramović, Harun Farocki and Danica Dakić, the exhibition demonstrated how contemporary sculpture, wall art, photography, installations, films and videos address the subject of war. How do artists, who have experienced war in their home countries, express feelings of national and cultural identity? How do they portray military conflicts in distant countries which they can simultaneously observe close up thanks to the media? And what effects does this have on individuals and our concept of individuality? The project was accompanied by a film programme, produced in cooperation with the Filmforum Duisburg.

Artistic director: Dr. Söke Dinkla
Artists: Marina Abramović (CS), Joseph Beuys, Werner Büttner, Jota Castro, Danica Dakić (BA), Jeremy Deller, Antje Ehmann und Harun Farocki, Duane Hanson, Mona Hatoum (LB), Lynn Hershman Leeson, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Dragan Lovrinović, Bruce Nauman, Iván Navarro (CL), Anja Niedringhaus, Pablo Picasso, Gil Shachar (IL), Frank Stella, Rosemarie Trockel, Danh Vō (VN), Wolf Vostell.