Forms of Representation / House of Assembly

Forms of Representation / House of Assembly
5.–6.6.2022

paulamarkert.de
michaelkohls.com

In a collaborative project, photographers Paula Markert and Michael Kohls examine the (in)visibility of Jewish life in Germany and the place of religion in political discourse.

In a joint presentation in a public space and a video installation in the Enfants Artspace, perspectives are altered, raising questions about the direction of view on the equally personal and political topic of religious identity.

With his video work House of Assembly, Michael Kohls visualizes a microcosm of Jewish life that is in a constant state of discontinuity due to its changing use. Since its restoration, the gymnasium of the former Israelitische Töchterschule has served as a synagogue for the Reform and Liberal Jewish communities. Due to its multiple uses, including as a practice space for a dance group, the Torah scrolls—the sacred and usually permanent element of any synagogue—are removed after each Shabbat and stored elsewhere. With this work, which shows the set up, dismantling, and intermediate situations of the use of the space, Kohls creates a visual metaphor for the (in)visibility of Jewish life in Hamburg.

At a time when nationalist parties are propagating the return of national borders in Europe and the region is questioning its collective future, its roots, and its continued existence, the topic of religion as a point of reference for the identity politics of right-wing populist parties is coming into focus. In addition to the spotlight that Paula Markert’s research-based photo project casts on fragments of religious history in Germany, her work Forms of Representation reflects on the narratives followed by the state’s staging of political consequences from racist and anti-Semitic continuities of the past and present, and makes visible the misuse of religious identity by the right-wing populism that is gaining strength across Europe.

Screening and Presentation: 5.6.2022, 8.00 pm

Enfants Artspace
Pilatuspool 19
20355 Hamburg