Chapter One: Uncertainties – Walking on Unstable Grounds

April 7 – May 1, 2021

Close

Ulrike Kuschel

12 Posters about Political and Defense Education in the GDR (12 Plakate zur politischen und Wehrerziehung in der DDR)

2004
12 silkscreen prints
59,4 x 84 cm (2x) and 84 x 59,4 cm (10x) 
Courtesy of the artist
© VG Bildkunst, Bonn

  • 12 Plakate zur politischen und Wehrerziehung in der DDR, 12 silkscreen prints, 59,4 x 84 cm (2x) and 84 x 59,4 cm (10x), 2004. Courtesy of the artist © VG Bildkunst, Bonn. Angst, keine Angst, Installation view at Times Art Center, 2021. Foto: Jens Ziehe, Berlin.
  • 12 Plakate zur politischen und Wehrerziehung in der DDR, 12 silkscreen prints, 59,4 x 84 cm (2x) and 84 x 59,4 cm (10x), 2004. Courtesy of the artist © VG Bildkunst, Bonn

The silkscreen work 12 Posters about Political and Defense Education in the GDR presents quotations from educational literature and schoolbooks from former East Germany. The external form of the quotations is partly reminiscent of Cold War iconography, e.g. a wall or a red flag. An accompanying brochure contains statements from former classmates of the artist, whom she interviewed about their fears in the 1980s – fears that were partly caused by the educational system itself – as well as two additional texts by the artist and her sister.