Invitation to a Lecture and Panel Discussion!

The exhibition Produktive Unruhe takes a look at the art and culture scene of the 1980s in Dresden. It takes as its starting point the 9th and 10th Art Exhibitions of the GDR, which, as the most significant comprehensive exhibitions of their time, highlighted the diversity of artistic creation. At the same time, the exhibition also focuses on alternative culture, which increasingly developed its own forms of expression outside of state guidelines.

Through works of art, photographs, and historical documents, the exhibition illustrates the tensions, contradictions, and new beginnings of a society in transition and invites visitors to rediscover the atmosphere of the GDR’s final years.

Reise(un)freiheit  – Art and Mobility in the GDR Era

© Ausstellungsplakat von Kunsthaus Dresden

As part of the exhibition’s accompanying program, this lecture explores the travel opportunities available to artists in the 1980s. It focuses on the opportunities and limitations of cultural exchange, as well as the significance of mobility for artistic developments and international contacts in the GDR.

Together with Prof. Kerstin Schankweiler and Hala Ghoname from TU Dresden, as well as artist Anna Bromley, questions of travel, cultural networking, and artistic exchange will be discussed and contextualized within the social landscape of the 1980s.