Exhibition of subversive art by women in former East Germany opens

Summary of story from Spiegel, June 28, 2011

A new exhibition in Mannheim, Germany, explores the subversive art of women in East Germany in the 1980s.

The works highlight the surprising degree of rebellion simmering in the subculture of communist society shortly before its demise.

Given the strict surveillance of the East German government over the art scene, the very existence of these photographs, paintings, films, collages, graphics and installations is rather remarkable.

Curator Susanne Altmann said that she searched for “perceptions of women that deviate from the officially encouraged ideological canon in the German Democratic Republic” – ideas from the subculture of the state, far from traditional agricultural and domestic duties.

‘Entdeckt! Rebellische Künstlerinnen in der DDR’ ['Discovered! Rebellious Women Artists in the GDR'] runs from July 2 to October 9 at the Kunsthalle Mannheim.