The exhibition "typical! Clichés of Jews and Others" which opens on 19 March takes visitors on a journey into the world of over-simplified images and notions. It shows works of art, junk, photos, and film clips and raises the question of how popcult objects, bric-a-brac, and historical collectors' pieces spread stereotypical messages.
Are black athletes better than white athletes? Do homosexuals have a particular appreciation for art? Are pipe smokers easygoing and do Jews have long noses?
The Jewish Museum Berlin cordially invites you to attend the press conference (19 March 2008, 11 am) and opening (19 March 2008, 7pm) of the exhibition organized in cooperation with the Jewish Museum Vienna.
The Special Exhibition "typical! Clichés of Jews and Others" "typical! Clichés of Jews and Others" is an exhibition about the stereotyped seeing, perceiving, and compartmentalizing of images and objects. At the core of the exhibition is the phenomenon that stereotypes and clichés permeate all areas of life and undergo constant reaffirmation and popularization. They shape our image of ourselves and of "others" and are cultivated by our belonging to a group or a nation separate from other groups and nations. It's impossible to imagine pop culture without characterizations and classifications, which through their simplification help us to overcome our fear of the unknown, but at the same time can also provide us with a breeding ground for racist ideologies.
At what point do generalizations become stereotyped thinking, senseless prejudices and resentments? And when do they become nationalistic, anti-Semitic or racist? These are the central questions explored by the exhibition.
Around 200 exhibits – historical and contemporary pictures from advertising, film and computer games, works of art, handicrafts and everyday objects – help to demonstrate how stereotypes and clichés emerge. Twenty-five triptychs show various facets of the theme illustrating both anti-Semitic and philosemitic perspectives, the labeling of so-called ethnic characteristics taking the examples of Africans, Japanese, and American Indians, and the portrayal of the western colonial rulers by the colonized people. The attribution of reputed features or mannerisms to Muslims, homosexuals, and communists is scrutinized as are the presumptions made by pseudo-scientists from research areas such as eugenics and the application of research for racist goals.
The exhibits of the triptychs confront works of art – which themselves contribute to stereotyping – with objects of trivial and folk culture. They are positioned next to works which grapple with the themes in hand in a critical or self-mocking way and try to penetrate the stereotypes. In direct comparison with these very varied standpoints, visitors have the opportunity to explore the latent but malicious seeds of defamation to be found in characterizations.
Exhibits of the bizarre and shocking variety can also be found on the 650 m² exhibition area. The various noses of well-known Americans jut out of the wall, driving home the stereotype of the "Jewish nose" ad absurdum in the American artist Dennis Kardon's provocative sculpture "Jewish Noses." Hans Makart's painting "Sarah Bernhardt" (1881) emphasizes the image prevalent in the 19th century of "the beautiful Jewish woman." The photograph "Sexy and Dangerous" by the Australian Andrew Brook (1996) captures the deep-seated prejudices of the allegedly "wild Aborigines." And the well-known Iranian artist Shirin Neshat is represented with the work entitled "Rebellious Silence" from her "Women of Allah" series. There is even a plant which curiously goes by the name of "Wandering Jew" amongst the objects, the majority of which are originals from international collections and museums. Many of the exhibits classified as anti-Semitic stem from Martin Schlaff's collection which came into the possession of the Jewish Museum Vienna in 1993. And in the Media Room, visitors can try their hand at a computer game designed at Harvard University to demonstrate how their own thinking is shaped by stereotypes.
"typical! Clichés of Jews and Others" inspires visitors to take a closer look, also at their own thought patterns. It not only sensitizes visitors to the presence of stereotypes in their everyday environment, but also to their brutality, as they are not least a breeding ground for racism and misanthropy. Perhaps some visitors are ready, after viewing the exhibition, to question the well-worn cliché that there is an element of truth behind every prejudice. -- www.juedisches-museum-berlin.de
Comment and add to the story without registration, but keep the comments meaningful please. Links are not accepted.
