Das Gegenteil von Gut

Literal translation: The opposite of good

For the Anne Frank Educational Center (German: Bildungsstätte Anne Frank), we designed and realized this traveling exhibition on anti-Semitism in the left.

View of interactive elements at the station »Kiosk«

The exhibition is structured around six stations, which represent the everyday practices of actors of the political left. The content of the exhibition is presented with videos, objects and interactive elements.

Station »Street« with silhouette of a protester and interactive audio player

Detail view of the station »Street« with interactive sliding element

Station »University« with street sign »Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz« and video

The exhibition architecture we designed consists of a modular system of cardboard honeycomb panels, which can be produced inexpensively and transported easily.

View of the stations »University« and »Stage«

Detail of the station »Stage« with video and baseball bat with the inscription »Antisemitismuskeule« (literal translation: »antisemitism club«)

In addition to conception and design, we were responsible for the complete realization of the exhibition, from research and organization of the physical production to media production and installation.

Station »Supermarket« with video and shopping basket full of Coke cans

View of the stations »Supermarket« and »Apartment« with videos and objects

Detail of the station »Apartment« with objects

From the exhibition announcement:

Octopus symbolism at mass protests, calls for a boycott of Israel, and the dispute over the Palestinian scarf - the history of the political left in Germany has repeatedly been marked by moments in which anti-Semitic stereotypes were circulated and ignored or deeply divided the scene.

Anti-Semitism has been articulated again on the political left in Germany since the late 1960s: In the »critique« of Israel or the financial sector, anti-Semitic images actualize themselves under the pretext of supposedly being morally on the right side. In 1967, Jean Améry wrote: »One thing is certain: anti-Semitism, contained in anti-Israelism or anti-Zionism like the thunderstorm in the cloud, is in turn honorable.«

The exhibition »Das Gegenteil von gut« deals with this anti-Semitism in the political left in the present and the past. In doing so, left-wing political concerns are not to be delegitimized, but on the contrary strengthened, even where their own claim seems to have been lost, to fight for a society in which it is possible to be different without fear.

In order to connect to the everyday life of left-wing political actors, the exhibition is structured according to spaces in and on which radical left-wing critiques were practiced - on the street, in the apartment, at the kiosk, at the university, on the stage, and in the supermarket. Each of these spaces stands for a particular constellation of conflict, which is made concrete by means of historical and contemporary examples.

Interviews with seven actors of the political left, who were themselves confronted with anti-Semitism in the course of their biographies and have taken action against it, help to classify them: For example, Jutta Ditfurth talks about her confrontations with anti-globalization protests, Micha Brumlik about the Frankfurt housing struggle, Elli Kaminer-Zamberk about the stage cast of Fassbinder's play »Die Stadt, der Müll und der Tod« (The City, the Garbage and Death), and Julia König about anti-Semitism in academic contexts.

Detail of the station »Kiosk« with video and silhouettes of people with clothes and accessories typical for »the scene«

Newspaper stand with »Gut gemeint« newspaper at the station »Kiosk«