Der Blick zurück The Look Back

A decolonization of unknown women.

In 1912, “Das Weib im Leben der Völker” is published in Berlin. The two volumes gather 1149 illustrations of mostly young women from all parts of the world.

The depicted women are described only by their origin. Transformed into exotic objects of desire, presented like impaled butterflies.

The goal of the project is a liberation, a peeling out of the numerous superimpositions of meaning.

Finding that magic moment in which a rebirth occurs.  A decolonization of the nameless women.

Reclaiming the gaze.

Many of the women look directly into the camera. “The Look Back” takes up this gaze, returns it with means of deconstruction, reproduction and intervention.

With its revival, the images themselves get their gaze back, unobstructed by projections and no longer trapped between pages of books.

It is a gaze that aims directly into the eyes of the viewer and invites them to look back.

Artlab Tor 218 gallery during the  Berlin Art Week 22 | 09.15. - 10.09.

Der Blick zurück The Look Back  by André Werner