Gift

About

Gift examines the writing of history through materials that document differing transfers of ownership and property infractions between the GDR period and after. In doing so, the project questions the construction of national identity.
Gift does not present an exhibition in the true sense of the word, but rather forms part of an institutional process. Following the presentation at Galerie Wedding, the artist Julian Irlinger will hand over the source material to the collection of the Wende Museum in Los Angeles, in order to make it available as a historical artifact for exhibition and research purposes. The materials will be the first documents of their kind to enter the collection. Their presence will expand the possibility of research on ideological and economic aspects of German unification outside of Germany, thus challenging the unifying authority of national identity and historical narrative.

The exhibition at Galerie Wedding explores the donation by means of an installation of documents and photographs of a house in Schönebeck an der Elbe from the artist’s own family archive. The presentation is markedly influenced by the Corona crisis, since a part of the gallery’s exhibition space is temporarily under use by the Sozialamt (the district’s office for social welfare)—all involved parties have decided to share the premises. The office’s temporary presence will last for at least half of the exhibition’s duration, illustrating the fact that the cultural sector must find ways to come to terms with the crisis as well. The split occupation also highlights the public-institutional structure of the gallery.

The Corona crisis underscores the content of the project as well, specifically the perception of national borders. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the idea of a European community has been personified through an increasing freedom of travel while new EU external borders have emerged. However, in a shift within the history of the European Union, the current crisis has in fact strengthened the borders of the nation-state. Since Gift is centred on a donation to the Wende Museum in Los Angeles, the pandemic also affects the project’s connection to the United States, which has currently closed its borders to Europe.

Exhibition tours with Julian Irlinger and Jan Tappe for a maximum of 5 people will take place on 13th, 27th of  June and 25th of July 2020 at 5 pm. RSVP to post@galeriewedding.de.