2020

Rebelling and Governing – Rendez-vous on the Airwaves and in the Streets

By adapting the format to the constraining circumstances, our annual festival went ahead even during the Corona pandemic: an exhibition on Weimar’s streets showed rebels and their biographies, podiums were unceremoniously moved to radio studio and listened to on Radio Lotte, Radio Frei and MDR with great curiosity. In addition, we specially produced a documentary film on the topic of »Rebelling and Governing,« which was screened on the exterior wall of the Bauhaus Museum during good weather (in summer 2021).
Down through history as well as in the present day, rebellions surface in those fractious spheres between political, economic, and social domination and from the resistance against it. During that process, the form rebellion assumes also modify, ranging from open violence to civil disobedience with an explicit renunciation of violence. As resistance against injustice, rebellion nowadays often has the backing of the general public. Conversely, one might also ask: Is governing invariably bad? Or, what constitutes good governance so that rebellions against it are not even necessary?

Exhibition in Public Space

Fifteen biographies of selected »rebels and governors« were presented on eleven steles, biographies whose life trajectories led them to and through Weimar. All these historical figures were robust characters who lived, argued, and fought for their ideals and convictions. Some, such as Gabriele Reuter, Hoffmann von Fallersleben or Johannes Daniel Falk, were subtly artistic, whilst others the likes of Pastor Alexander Wessel or Kurt Nehrling engaged in civil disobedience; still others were involved in open rebellion as was the case with Rosa Luxemburg. A QR code on each stele granted access to original sound recordings, fragments of letters and photos, providing insights into the biographies of those men and women and into the motives behind their »rebellion« or their form of governance.

Radio Discussions

Partners: RADIO F.R.E.I /​ RADIO LOTTE /​ MDR THÜRINGEN – Kulturnacht

Documentary Film

Produced specifically for the Weimar Rendez-vous with History, this fifteen-minute documentary, examines in an entertaining way, citing examples of historical rebels and those operative today, how they became rebellious, what constitutes their rebelliousness, and questions whether perhaps every society desperately needs such figure-heads, even if they are combative and make us uncomfortable. Or, rather precisely because they are combative and make us uncomfortable.
The film was projected onto the exterior wall of the Bauhaus Museum. In view of the prevailing pandemic restrictions and weather conditions, the screening took place in July 2021.