© Alina Simmelbauer
Paul Goesch: New Approaches to Biographies of NS "Euthanasia" Victims
© Stiftung Brandenburgische Gedenkstätten
© Stiftung Brandenburgische Gedenkstätten
The artist Paul Goesch (1885-1940) is considered a visionary of modernism. But he was also a psychiatric patient for many years and he was murdered in 1940 in the context of the NS "euthanasia" crimes in the killing facility in Brandenburg an der Havel. The project is developing a participatory curated exhibition on the life and work of Paul Goesch at Brandenburg an der Havel.
Fantasy architectures, intensely colored self-portraits and children's book illustrations – the artist Paul Goesch (1885-1940) is considered a visionary of modernism. His works are examples of the avant-garde Expressionism in the 1910s and 1920s. But Paul Goesch was also a psychiatric patient for many years and he was murdered in 1940 in the context of the NS euthanasia crimes in the killing facility in Brandenburg an der Havel. The Memorial for the Victims of the Euthanasia Killings and the City Museum Brandenburg an der Havel are planning a participatory exhibition on his life and work for 2024.
What is so interesting and impressive about Paul Goesch's life and work? What questions arise? What could an exhibition on this topic look like? This question will not be answered by the memorial and museum curators alone in this project. As many people as possible will be involved in the process of finding and designing topics – especially people for whom museums and memorial sites are not (yet) familiar spaces. Within the framework of workshops and later as a group of citizen curators, they can participate and express their views.
The project will also explore the potential of art and cultural education in the context of historical education. The focus here is on a street art project, which will also bring the exhibition's themes into the urban space. The project "Ausstellungsmacher:innen gesucht! [Exhibition organizers wanted!]" will be digitally supported by a website as well as posts on the social media – in this way the themes can also be looked at and discussed beyond the local context.
The Foundation's responsibility is to provide reminders of terror, war, and tyranny and also to stimulate public discussion about these issues. Its task is to research, document and publicize the structure and development of the concentration camps as well as their satellite camps in Brandenburg and also the history of the NKVD camps and the political criminal justice system in the GDR.
Cooperation partners:
City Museum Brandenburg an der Havel
Children and Youth Art Gallery "Sonnensegel" e.V.
Funding country: Germany
Duration: 01.08.2022 until 31.12.2024