Dresden Hellerau

SPRINGHOUSE FESTIVAL Hellerau (May 2017)

During the residency and for the research about the historical place of Hellerau, I was interested in the utopian moment of the garden city and its artistic milieu at the beginning of the last century. What is left of utopia when it becomes reality? My work collects fragments of visionary, utopian, progressive but also racist and antisemitic debates and asks about utopia one more time.
The body plays a central role in the historical experiment of Hellerau and seems to be a central point of discussion and progressive ideas in the life reform movement. The dark side of this are antisemitic, racist and folkish/racist thoughts. A showcase for this is Richard Ungewitter, nationalist pioneer of the nudist culture, posing completely nude in the snow at 2400 meter altitude, only dressed with a pair of skis.
Myself, I’m waving the far too heavy, enhanced flag of Utopia. A fragment of the sky on the flagpole, blue as the colour of Europe. The question about visions, utopia and big narration is of great relevance at the moment. Which visions has the European left to offer? How can progressive, emancipatory ideas stand against racial populism?