Dreaming: Annemirl Bauer and Bärbel Bohley
in dialogue with Christian Borchert, Jürgen Graetz, Barbara Klemm and Elske Rosenfeld
24 Sep–8 Nov 26
Opening: 23 Sep 26, 6 pm

As part of the six-part exhibition series “Making Public: On the Work and Legacy of the Centre for Art Exhibitions of the GDR” by the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa), the final exhibition in the series brings together two exceptional female artists and political activists: Annemirl Bauer and Bärbel Bohley. Both openly challenged the repressive GDR system and, as a result, came into conflict with the state and its institutions. There are no works by Annemirl Bauer in the ZfK’s collection; Bärbel Bohley is represented by three prints.

The exhibition is complemented by photographs by Christian Borchert (1942–2000) and Jürgen Graetz (b. 1943), which depict Annemirl Bauer in her personal and artistic circles. Bärbel Bohley is featured in Barbara Klemm’s (*1939) iconic photograph taken on 4 November 1989, standing between Gregor Gysi and Heiner Müller during the large demonstration on Alexanderplatz, at which Bohley was one of the speakers. In Bohley’s print Manchmal ist Kunst abwesend!  for the Silberblick 3 portfolio (1989), the absence of art amidst political upheaval becomes a statement in itself. Elske Rosenfeld (b. 1974) takes up Bohley’s gesture in 2023 and transforms her text-based work into two images, a positive and a negative. In doing so, she shifts the message of the artist and political activist Bärbel Bohley and brings her ambivalence back into focus.