Till Ansgar Baumhauer

Knotted and tufted carpet | 2013/2014
Funded by the Postgraduate Funding of Thuringia

This Ph.D. project by Till Ansgar Baumhauer examines how ubiquitous, violent wartime experiences in long-term conflicts are artistically portrayed, based on the Thirty Years’ War in Central Europe (1618 – 48) and Afghanistan (since 1979). While the scientific part comprises an analysis of the visual documentation of war experience in both conflicts, Baumbauer draws a connection between the cultural experiences in dialogical cooperation with Afghan artists.

Here, an area of conflict arises between cultural background and technical knowledge: While Wekil Ahmad Hakkani, a Herat-based carpet maker, has to decipher the meaning of the digitally pixelated motif, Baumhauer struggles with the unfamiliar technique. Between the lines – or rather: between the knots – aspects become visible that reveal the possibilities and difficulties of intercultural translation: For the Afghan, the idea that the original representation might show the violent assault on a defenceless old man is almost unthinkable in a society that honours seniority. Thus, the attack by the young soldier – now dressed in a raditionally Afghan clothing – is aimed at a young woman and becomes a sexual instead of a martial assault.