On the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the reunification of Germany, the Goethe Center of the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice in cooperation with the Berlin-based foundation Budesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur presents an exhibition that offers an unusual insight into the lives of women in divided Germany. The exhibition "Women in Divided Germany" presents authentic stories, contrasts, and parallels of women's fates in the GDR and Germany in the 1970s and 1980s in twenty panels.
The exhibition is curated by Clara Marz, a cultural scholar from Berlin who focuses on gender history and memory in the European context. Her selection of materials and testimonies of women from both sides of the Iron Curtain breaks down established stereotypes of "Eastern" and "Western" women and emphasizes the common struggle for self-determination in a patriarchally structured society.
Twenty exhibition panels present the different living conditions, stereotypes and common challenges that shaped women's destinies on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
"The exhibition is an invitation to reflect: what does it mean to be a woman in a certain time and place? What stories were heard - and what stories remained hidden," explains curator Clara Marz.
Curator Clara Marz's personal presentation at the Goethe Center on October 23 was extremely well-received. Visitors had the unique opportunity to go behind the scenes of the exhibition's creation, discuss her research with the artist, and share their own perspectives on the female experience in the history of Central Europe in the last century. The atmosphere of the meeting was open, inspiring, and stimulating - many appreciated the opportunity for a personal conversation with the curator and deeper insight into the topic.
The exhibition, which is still on display at the Goethe Center of the University of South Bohemia until the end of November, is accompanied by a thematic programme in the form of meetings, lectures and film screenings, which opens up space for reflection on female identity, language, the image of women in society, as well as literary and cinematic treatments of women's fates. For more information on the accompanying educational events, please visit the Goethe Centre USB's website.
Opening hours of the library of the Goethe Center USB, Krajinská 2, Tuesday 10-17, Wednesday 10-18, Thursday 9-15.
