Art and Identity in a Global Nation
An examination of shifting notions of identity in modern-day Germany—and the diverse artists challenging conventional meanings of “Germanness” today
An examination of shifting notions of identity in modern-day Germany—and the diverse artists challenging conventional meanings of “Germanness” today
 
Made in Germany? Art and Identity in a Global Nation addresses important questions of contemporary art and belonging in Germany from the 1980s, when discussions about multiculturalism in West Germany came to the fore, to our current time, a period still deeply impacted by the country’s unification and more recent migration policies. In the wake of these developments, racial violence, right-wing populism, and ethnically defined nationalism have grown. Accessible essays on topics such as labor migration, being Black in Germany, and the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall lay the groundwork for understanding the intercultural dynamics in Germany today. Object-focused texts delve into works in various media, from Candida Höfer’s slideshow Turks in Germany 1979, which presented Turkish immigrants as embedded in public life at a time when they were not welcomed as a permanent part of German society, to Ngozi Schommers’s readymade sculpture Commuters, a commentary on the country’s ongoing housing crisis. In a period when right-wing nationalist movements are gaining traction in Germany and around the globe, Made in Germany? argues for a more expansive idea of what it means to be German, spotlighting artists from diverse backgrounds whose works probe notions of national identity.
 
Distributed for the Harvard Art Museums
 
Exhibition Schedule:
 
Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA
(September 13, 2024–January 5, 2025)