On 19 May 2018, the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden opens the new special exhibition Rassismus. Die Erfindung von Menschenrassen, which looks at racism and different forms of discrimination, exclusion and violence both historically and in relation to the present. This exhibition is open until 9 January 2018.

© Chris Buck

Information

The new special exhibition of the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum addresses the topic of racism in a comprehensive way. On the one hand, it argues historically by looking at the scientific invention of "human races" since the 18th century; on the other hand, it aims at our present, where people are still confronted with racism and various forms of discrimination, exclusion and violence.

The hierarchy-creating concept of human "races" stems from the Enlightenment's thinking of order, and it has penetrated deeply into the structure of thought and perception of European modernity. The exhibition analyses the images and media with which this thinking was popularised and describes its geopolitical impact since the age of colonialism. A separate chapter is devoted to the role of the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum under National Socialism, in which the house was actively involved in the elaboration and propagandistic dissemination of "racial hygiene" ideas.

The exhibition works out the effectiveness of this construct of "races" even for a society in which the term itself is largely outlawed. It is thus less concerned with the history of a dangerous word than with the anatomy of a long-lived idea. She describes racism as an ideology and as an everyday practice, thus sensitising visitors to its conscious and unconscious modes of operation. Racism not only injures and endangers individuals, but also, to this day, the ideals of human equality and freedom that underlie our democratic society.

The exhibition will make visible how a politics of social inequality and hostility was and is derived from the given human diversity. It will not be able to directly correct the way we feel and think about 'us' and 'the others'. But it will reveal the mechanisms of racist thinking and perception and thus show options for action that can respond to the challenges of a multicultural society without aggression and defence. All sections will therefore also present those phenomena and movements that have critically confronted racist ideologies and advocated an anti-racist practice or a politics of cultural recognition. In this way, the exhibition aims to contribute to a realistic and optimistic view of cultural and social diversity and the political order of our society.

Source and further information: http://www.dhmd.de/ausstellungen/rassismus/