May 8, 2009

Places of Uncertainty and Memory

Marion Kahnemann, acclaimed sculptor and Paideia alumna, has inaugurated a major public work in the city of Dresden.

The art project, which consists of three public installations in central Dresden, was inaugurated by the Chief Mayor of Dresden on April 21st, the Yom haShoah. During the last two years, Marion has been provoking an open discussion, in order to raise awareness of the project and the issues it deals with.

In each of three prominent parks in Dresden, Marion has replaced an existing park bench with a glass bench bearing the inscription “LOOK AT IT” (HINSEHEN). These parks represent all the public green spaces that Jews were forbidden from entering beginning in 1940. Next to the bench, a band of text (made of cast iron) is set in the ground with the quote "NUR FÜR ARIER" ("FOR ARYANS ONLY") and with a notice (in German and English) referring to the police directives which applied to each location. (The words "NUR FÜR ARIER" could be read all over Germany during the time of National Socialism.)

The project aims at creating sites for reflection and creative uncertainty. These sites are to remind passers-by how an entire segment of the population was excluded from society, rendering it step-by-step invisible, so that its plight no longer weighed on one's conscience. The goal is also to sensitize civil society to the mechanisms of exclusion practiced today.

As a follow-up measure, a photographer will document the events surrounding the benches, how the benches are accepted, etc. The reaction of the people will determine the direction of projects connected to the benches.


The project is supported by the Culture Office of the City of Dresden and the Art Commission of the City of Dresden for Art in the Public Space.


Marion, who was a fellow at Paideia during the year 2001-2002, also worked on this project during the Paideia Project-Incubator in 2007.