The time of growing up in a normal family structure – father, mother, kids – seems to be almost gone: at least in Germany more and more children grow up living only with one of their parents, mostly with their mother. Almost every fifth mother is a Single Mom, as the results of one Bertelsmann Study Research shows. And politics so far are not coping.
This year the topic exhibition of the Frauenmuseum Bonn is focusing on this explosive social problem in showing three main parts of the issue: The first part puts the spotlight on the historic perspective of the present situation of Single Moms. The second part is the international one and tries to give a view on the situation of Single Moms in different parts of the world. And the third part of course shows how Art and Culture are dealing with this issue. There will be interviews on screen given by well-known and normal single moms, facing similar problems.
The main show is accompanied by three parallel running single exhibitions on the subject from the artists Maina Miriam Munsky, Annegret Soltau and a show of portraits about survivors of the Iraqi Anfal – Operation, a memorial initiated by women.
Part 1: Entrance to the show is the historical aspect, which shows you immediately that even in passed times a lot of mothers had to look after their children on their own after surviving wars and natural disasters. This was accepted as long as they fitted into the socially accepted moral boundaries. But being an illegitimate Single Mom they had to face prejudices, hard punishments and na-tional guardianship. Today there seems to be a legal equalization but still there are no equal chances. Half of a normal income and double responsibility are the facts in a normal life of a single mom.
Part 2: And the exhibition wants to give at least a glimpse on what is going on in other countries worldwide: During the 1960s for instance in the former German Democratic Republic Single Moms were integrated, but at the same time in Ireland, for example, you could not even discuss that Single Moms existed.
The exhibition shows the first „women“s village“ founded by Rebecca Lolosoli, in Kenya, where until recently women could not even posses land, and where women, thrown out of the house by their husbands, had no choices and could not even go back to their own family.
In Ruanda, there are not Single Moms but Single Girls running post genocide households and raising their younger brothers and sisters. One project tries to support them organizing „fosterhood support“ out of the local villages.
In Jordan the focus is on refugees, mostly women with their children of course, trying to survive and heading from one camp to the other.
In Korea as in a lot of other Asian countries, unmarried Single Moms were not accepted at all, facing prejudice and discrimination, so that a lot of young mothers gave their babies free for adoption, regretting it deeply later on without any chance of getting them back.
In Latin America, the number of Single Moms is constantly rising, especially with teenage girls facing religious reasons and abortion prohibition. „Machismo“ is no cliche, a lot of fathers leave their wives and children because of a younger one, and grandmothers take over. But in Brazil, they had the first case of a father who had to go to prison because of not paying his dues to support his children.
Totally different is the situation sometimes in the US, where Single Moms of course are facing the same problem of every single mom worldwide, but where you find a growing number of well situated working single women who decide for themselves to become pregnant and raise their child all by themselves.
Part 3. The Art: All of these aspects will be shown not only as documentaries but also in artistically transformed projects: more than 40 women artists worked on the topic transforming it on their own ways autobiographically or literately as well as referring to religious manifests or mythologies into pieces of art. One of the international parts of the art performances is realized by a group of Chinese artists: The „Bald Girls“ will show their subversive art originating in the new Chinese cultural scene.
VERNISSAGE:
Sunday – 13th April 2014 – 14 p.m.
PARALLEL EXHIBITIONS
11.05. – 29.06.2014 Maina Miriam Munsky: „Die Angst wegmalen“
13.07. – 07.09.2014 Annegret Soltau: „Einheit und Trennung- Familienbilder“
21.09. – 09.11.2014 Portraits Überlebender von Anfal und die von Frauen initiierte Gedenkstätte
Bildquelle:kein externes Copyright
Das Bonner Frauenmuseum wurde 1981 von der heutigen Direktorin Marianne Pitzen und einer Gruppe interdisziplinär arbeitender Frauen gegründet. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt existierte weltweit noch keine Institution gleichen Namens oder vergleichbarer Zielsetzung. Das Frauenmuseum ist kein statischer Ort mit festem Bestand, sondern ein lebendiges Haus, das sich aus der Fülle der weiblichen Kreativität und Vielfalt immer wieder erneuert.
Mehr als 2.500 nationale und internationale Künstlerinnen haben Im Krausfeld ausgestellt, 600 Ausstellungen wurden durchgeführt, darunter 30 „Riesenprojekte“ auf jeweils 2.000 qm, 200 Kataloge ediert und mit mehr als 1000 Veranstaltungen wissenschaftlich oder spartenübergreifend untermauert. In den Archiven wird zu Geschichte, Zeitgeschichte und Kunst gesammelt, allein die Bibliothek der Künstlerinnen umfasst 12.000 Kataloge. Die Sammlung wächst stetig; sie ist ausschließlich auf Schenkungen angewiesen: Nachlässe, Stiftungen, Sponsoren.
Marianne Pitzen und ihr Team sind auch neue Wege gegangen – das Kinderatelier, die Kunst- und Designmessen – sind Projekte, die in den letzten 10 Jahren entstanden sind. Der Aufbau des historischen Bereichs ist in den letzten Jahren stärker in den Focus gerückt. Das Frauenmuseum verbindet auf einzigartige Art und Weise Geschichte mit Gegenwartskunst.
Kommende Ausstellungen:
11.05. – 29.06.2014 Maina Miriam Munsky: „Die Angst wegmalen“
13.07. – 07.09.2014 Annegret Soltau: „Einheit und Trennung- Familienbilder“
21.09. – 09.11.2014 Portraits Überlebender von Anfal und die von Frauen initiierte Gedenkstätte
21.11. – 23.11. 2014 24. Kunstmesse 2014, 80 Künstlerinnen, Sonderausstellung, Programm
30.11. – 30.01.2015 Theobald Simon Preis der GEDOK, Bundesweite Ausschreibung, Ausstellung der Preisträgerin. c/o Prof. Ulrike Rosenbach/Präsidentin der GEDOK
14.12. – 08.03.2015 „Die Blaue Reiterin und ihr Freundeskreis“. Ein Projekt des Gabriele Münter Preis e.V.
Frauenmuseum
Dr. Klaudia Nebelin
Im Krausfeld
53111 Bonn
0228 92 655 160
klaudia.nebelin@frauenmuseum.de
http://www.frauenmuseum.de