What Moves Us at summaery2024? Part 2: Faculty of Art and Design
For this year's annual exhibition, students at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar often present their projects in unusual locations away from the campus. In addition to the art and design exhibition spaces in the historic Van de Velde ensemble and Marienstraße, summaery2024 will also feature completely new venues. This year, for example, passers-by can experience textile art at the train station in Apolda or immerse themselves in democracy campaigns in the Weimar shopping mall »Atrium«.
Democrazy? – Campaigns Call for Democratic Engagement
Visuelle Kommunikation (Visual Communication) students have dedicated themselves to the upcoming state elections. Together with the Thuringian »Landeszentrale für politische Bildung«, they have created numerous campaigns, films, posters, illustrations and installations showing how important it is to participate in democratic elections. They are calling on people to vote on 1 September.
The students present information in a visually exciting way: One of the campaigns, for instance, emphasises that the average person makes around 20,000 decisions every day. Everyday decisions are highlighted in films, on posters, and through interventions carried out in public spaces: Ice cream with or without whipped cream? Elevator or stairs? Which brand of ketchup in the supermarket? The core message behind it all? Make the one choice that really matters. On 1 September.
The Atrium was specifically chosen as the location: »We are delighted that we are able to exhibit in the Atrium ad present our results on the event floor and in the cinema«, says Masihne Rasuli, one of the instructors responsible for the project. »This will allow us to reach a wider audience and get even more people interested in our democracy project.« The results of the project will be presented from 11 to 14 July and only student clips will be shown in the Atrium cinema for the entire period.
Large-Scale Knitted Works in Apolda, Bad Sulza and on Campus in Weimar
Starting at summaery2024, the façade of Apolda’s train station will have a new look for the summer months: Large-scale knitted works covering a total of 50 square metres will be on display for train passengers and passers-by. Students from the Faculty of Art and Design tell the story of the nearly forgotten history of the »Strickerstadt« (knitting city), once a major supplier of knitwear in the once important industrial GDR city. The knitted works inspire viewers to reflect on the future of sustainable, regional textile production. Knitted-in QR codes link to audio recordings »to go«.
The façade project was implemented by students in the Fine Art Education (Secondary School) programme project module »cast on knitting culture« led by Anne Marx and Sandra Rücker. The large-format knitted textile designs were created in collaboration with the companies »Anke Hammer StrickArt« in Bad Sulza and »Strickatelier Landgraf« in Apolda. The students were given intensive insights into this now rare professional field. They incorporated their experiences into an additional knitted banner that can be seen by train passengers as they pass by Anke Hammer’s knitting factory in Bad Sulza. But it wasn’t just about the local history: »In our project, we approached knitting as an act and an attitude in various ways«, the course instructors say. »We encouraged people to knit and create together. In the end, we realised that we’re stronger together than we are alone.«
In addition to these projects, summaery2024 visitors have the opportunity to authentically experience the sites where art and design are studied. This includes highlights such as the »Traces of Recreation« exhibit by Produktdesign (Product Design) graduates, the »Lyonel-Kunstpreis 2024« exhibit, and the »Summer Reel«, a project that traditionally presents films from the Faculty and which will this year once again take place at the centrally located Theaterplatz on Saturday, 13 July, starting at 9.30 pm.
All information on summaery2024 can be found at: www.uni-weimar.de/summaery