Born in Söflingen near Ulm, Otl Aicher was one of the most important designers of the 20th century.
Far less well known than his graphic work is Aicher's political biography. Growing up in a circle of friends around the Scholl siblings, Otl Aicher early on developed very clear socio-political values that would shape him throughout his life and guide him in his actions. After the low point of the so called "zero hour ", all of Otl Aicher's efforts aimed at the spiritual-cultural and moral reconstruction of Germany as well as the stabilization of the still young democracy. He saw the discipline of design as an adequate means to express democratic ideas and to comprehensively influence social developments. In addition, he was actively involved in the peace movement of the 1980s and, together with his wife Inge Aicher-Scholl, kept alive the memory of the White Rose resistance group.
Image © Hannes Rosenberg. Courtesy Museum Ulm
vh Ulm, November 15, 2022
The U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, is one of the most notorious and mysterious places in recent American history: In 2002, the site gained international notoriety when the U.S. military established a detention center there as part of the global "war on terror." Pictures of inmates in orange prisoner uniforms enduring the blazing sun in wire cages went around the world and, together with reports on the use of torture, caused worldwide criticism and discussions about the human rights situation there. However, despite widespread media coverage at the time, interest in the conditions of the remaining 39 detainees quickly evaporated. The lecture summarizes the history of Guantánamo and uses selected events and individual fates to shed light on a security policy that subordinates the rights of the individual to state interests.
It is part of the supporting program of the exhibition "Welcome to Camp America: Inside Guantánamo Bay", which will be on show at the Stadthaus Ulm from December 12, 2021 to March 13, 2022.
Image © Debi Cornwall
In her photographic series „Welcome to Camp America,“ Debi Cornwall explores one of the most notorious and mysterious places in recent American history: the U.S. Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. In this panel discussion, the American artist as well as former Guantánamo detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi share their personal experiences of this infamous site, while Andreas Schüller of ECCHR and Urs Fiechtner of the Ulm Treatment Center for Torture Victims/Amnesty International expand the conversation to include perspectives that go beyond individual fates to consider the meaning and consequences of a security policy that subordinates human rights to state interests.
Panel discussion with Debi Cornwall, Mohamedou Ould Slahi, Andreas Schüller from the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and Urs Fiechtner from the Treatment Center for Torture Victims Ulm/Amnesty International, hosted by Daniela Yvonne Baumann.
Image © Debi Cornwall
Exhibition opening and artist talk
Image © Debi Cornwall
Stadthaus Ulm, December 12, 2021
Migration is a continuous phenomenon of today's social reality. Germany has been a country of immigration for decades—a fact that Federal President Christian Wulff stated with great effect in October 2010. When this fact is widely accepted by society as a whole, the transition to a post-migrant society begins and diversity becomes part of the social self-description. In her photographic works, Alina Simmelbauer shows different facets of migration and sheds light on marginalized narratives and groups that are oftentimes still ignored in socio-political discussions. Art historian Lena Geuer (TU Dresden) and film scholar Ömer Alkin (University of Marburg) discuss with Simmelbauer how art, and especially film and photography, can contribute to embedding these stories in our cultural memory and shaping a post-migrant society.
Image © Alina Simmelbauer
Online discussion hosted by Kunstverein Dresden, chaired by Daniela Yvonne Baumann, July 1, 2021
Photography is an ambivalent medium. While in everyday use it primarily captures the beautiful but banal moments of life, it also serves time and again as a means of interference and resistance. It grants visibility to events, people, or demonstrations of power that otherwise would not (or should not) be seen. The two-part lecture "The Committed Gaze" presents female photographers who use the camera specifically as a tool for fighting against repressive regimes, against war and violence, and for questioning normative world views and gender roles.
Online lectures, vh Ulm
Image © Zanele Muholi. Courtesy Stevenson Gallery