Luise Schröder
About the Artwork
The starting point for Luise Schröder’s large-format art poster titled Nachbilder, is the 2025 publication Currents in Motion (Strömungen in Bewegung). In this book, the artist explores the independent women’s and lesbian movement of the 1980s and 1990s in the GDR.
The poster is situated in the vicinity of the women’s center "Frauen helfen Frauen e. V.", which was founded in Bitterfeld-Wolfen in 1990 and remains actively committed to the interests of women and girls to this day.
The image detail used for the art poster, as well as the accompanying quote, are sourced from the "GrauZone" collection of the Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft e. V. / Archiv der DDR-Opposition (RHG). The chosen typeface, Kis Antiqua, was designed by Hildegard Korger and revived by Reymund Schröder.
Archival source (photograph): RHG-FO-GZ-0918 | Date: 1990 | Photographer: Kerstin Drischner | Provenance: Kerstin Drischner | Archival source (quote): RHG-GZ-UP 01, Bl. 11
Description of the photography
Demonstration against § 218, view across part of the demonstration toward the Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom). On the left, P. waiting at the microphone. Banner: "Nie § 218, Frauen entscheiden selbst, wann und wie viele Kinder sie zur Welt bringen" [Never § 218, women decide for themselves when and how many children they bring into the world]. Banner: "Ist das der Preis? DDR = Appel + Ei. Nein Danke!" [Is this the price? GDR = an apple + an egg (dirt cheap). No thank you!] (including visual depiction).
Keywords: Wende (Fall of the Berlin Wall / peaceful revolution), § 218, Germany | Location: Berlin | Organization: Unabhängiger Frauenverband (Independent Women's Association)
About the Artist
In her research-based artistic practice, Luise Schröder explores history and memory and their significance for the present. Her multimedia works, for which she often utilizes historical archival material, open up poetic spaces for reflection, alternative contexts of knowledge, and new perspectives on history. In recent years, Luise Schröder's works and projects have been presented in numerous international solo and group exhibitions. In 2018/19, she was awarded a residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris.
From April to June 2016, Luise Schröder was a fellow at the Villa Aurora in Los Angeles.
About the Project
As part of Art on Common Ground, Villa Aurora will bring artistic works in the form of large-format art posters to the urban space of Bitterfeld-Wolfen and the festival grounds at the Zschornewitz Power Plant from September 12 to 27, 2026.
Fellows of the Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V., an organization active in Germany and the United States, have created works that explore the location, social issues, and “the East.” Displayed in public spaces—on billboards and advertising spaces—these artworks can be encountered by a broad audience, sometimes quite by chance.
Art on Common Ground in Bitterfeld-Wolfen is a project of the Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House in cooperation with the Festival OSTEN.
About the Artworks
With rainbow, Viktoria Binschtok transfers a viral social media experiment into the landscape along Lutz-Born-Straße, making a shift in perspective the central motif of the work. Depending on the viewer's position, the artwork changes, pointing to the complexity and diversity of a society in motion.
・Location: Lutz-Born-Straße
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With her photographic work Banner des Friedens (Banner of Peace), Sonya Schönberger makes traces visible that were left long ago in the wet concrete of a housing estate in Wolfen. On the Straße der Chemiearbeiter (Street of the Chemical Workers), the artwork inquires into the meaning of these everyday found objects.・Location: Straße der Chemiearbeiter
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In her poster artwork motif, Luise Schröder engages with the independent women's and lesbian movement of the 1980s and 1990s in the GDR. The poster's location is in the immediate vicinity of the women's center "Frauen helfen Frauen e. V." (Women Helping Women), which continues to actively advocate for the concerns of women and girls to this day.・Location: Dessauer Allee
→ Learn more
To the Locations
The locations of the exhibited works are within the city of Bitterfeld-Wolfen, as well as the Festival OSTEN area. Click on the map to enlarge the view. Click the link below to view an overview of the locations:
→ To the map
To the Routes
In addition to the locations in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, the art posters will be on display at the Festival OSTEN area at the Zschornewitz power plant. A festival bus will run between the Bitterfeld train station and Zschornewitz. Click the link below to view the festival bus schedule: → To the schedule
It takes about twenty minutes to cycle around the exhibition venues in Bitterfeld-Wolfen. Click on the route to enlarge the view. Click the following link to view the route:
→ To the route
Partner
Der Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e. V. wird gefördert vom Auswärtigen Amt und von dem Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien.
