digital photographs on REGARDS FROM DRESDEN, a project of the class of Ulrike Grossarth
What are we supposed to do when racism in our environment becomes an everyday occurrence?
In the face of continuous displays of right-wing ideology, we will use the inner city as a place to publicly take a stand, or rather a walk: We – a group of up to 18 persons and objects – were, on Mondays from January to April 2016, moving through the area between Frauenkirche and the Elbe riverbank.
We agreed that to appear before public we would need support. The companions we chose are wishes and reflections, as well as our problems and shady sides having taken shape. One of us carries a beam from pine wood, as long as he is tall. Over another a yellow coat is hovering, ostensibly too small to be worn. Another is accompanied by a galloping cardboard horse that would help her in case of unexpected questions and encounters.
We deem this diversity to be useful in counteracting the exclusion of what seems alien. The group is not moving through Dresden’s inner city for the moment, but being with and embracing the alien and doing so in public remains a permanent task.
And here’s my grandmother:
Acid-free tape, book binding board, digital print, her back is starched by wooden strips. Her hands are those of a goddess that takes and gives and gives away nothing.
She appreciates the flower beds at Pirnaischer Platz and she asks me to stand in front of the showcase filled with carvings from Erzgebirge, a thing I would never do if I was on my own.
When I’m walking besides her my face can be read like a book.