Unbeschreiblich weiblich:... | Exhibitions

Unbeschreiblich weiblich: Frauenbilder in der DDR

Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art (BLMK), Cottbus

Cottbus | Germany

May 10, 2025 - Aug 10, 2025

Equality between women and men was defined in the GDR as a central component of socio-political objectives. Measures such as comprehensive support in education and careers aimed, among other things, to establish women as active contributors to socialist society. The role models propagated reflected both new demands and traditional expectations of women. Role models such as the caring mother, the responsible worker and the intellectual were expressed not only in official rhetoric but also in artistic practice.

The GDR鈥檚 art policy initially promoted idealized representations of the 鈥瀗ew man鈥�, with women primarily portrayed as representatives of socialist values. At the same time, artists developed more differentiated perspectives that dealt with the complex realities of women鈥檚 lives and focused on topics such as vulnerability, self-empowerment and rebellion. Alternative perspectives became increasingly present, particularly from the 1970s onwards.

The group exhibition examines the artistic exploration of femininity, the realities of life and the body of women. It sheds light on how women were idealized, stereotyped or reduced to their physicality on a visual level and how artists countered these representations with differentiated ideas. Another focus is on the question of how the female gaze differs from the male perspective. To what extent do gender-specific gaze strategies manifest themselves on women? Which traditional role and body images were reproduced, critically questioned or consciously deconstructed by both female and male artists?