Against Invisibility

The history of the Deutsche Werkstätten in Dresden and architects like Richard Riemerschmid and Bruno Paul are sufficiently well known. But who knows that in the period between 1898 and 1938 more than 50 women designers worked for this enterprise?

The exhibition Against Invisibility – Women Designers at the Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau 1898 to 1938 offers a fitting public stage for these women designers, who, despite their unflagging design production, exhibitions, successful participations in competitions and teaching, fell with the passage of time into oblivion.

The exhibition presents multifaceted works that demonstrate the creativity, professionalism and courage of very successful women, including Elisabeth Bertsch-Kampferseck, Margarete von Brauchitsch, Elisabeth Eimer-Raab, Lotte Frömel-Forchner, Marie von Geldern-Egmond, Margarete Junge, Gertrud Kleinhempel, Charlotte Krause, Margaret Leischner, Dora Lennartz, Clara Möller-Coburg, Ulla, Schnitt-Paul, Bertha Senestréy, Emmi Seyfried, Lilli Vetter, Else Wenz-Viëtor, Ruth Hildegard Geyer-Raak, Käthe Lore Zschweigert and the product photographer Hedda Reidt. Many of the works on display in the Japanese Palace—design drawings, furniture, textiles, wallpaper, toys and hollowware and more—have either never been shown for decades, or are on show for the very first time.

The exhibition not only closes a gap and quite significantly broadens the history of the Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau; it also showcases a different and unjustly forgotten female modernism beyond the avant-garde. A second exhibition section presents letters, photographs and credentials that grant an in-depth view of the women designers’ careers and networks, also their private life plans. They enable visitors to learn more about their image at the beginning of the 20th century and how they were able to act during this period. And the question that must always be addressed: How could these women remain invisible?

The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue with extensive essays, work descriptions, and photo series by Hirmer Verlag. Editors: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Tulga Beyerle and Klara Němečková, 254 pages, ISBN 978-3-7774-3218-2.

High-resolution press images are available as free downloads at www.skd.museum/presse.

The SKD will communicate with the hashtags #gegendieunsichtbarkeit, #kunstgewerbemuseumdresden and #skdmuseum on social media.

Director of the Kunstgewerbemuseum: Tulga Beyerle
Curator of the Exhibition: Klára Němečková
Project Management: Nils Hilkenbach

Symposium
“A Woman’s Work”
January 18, 2019

Curated by
Foreign Legion: Vera Sacchetti & Matylda Krzykowski

The symposium “A Woman’s Work” sheds light on the role of working women in the early 20th century and today. It discusses questions and topics about stereotypes that have survived to this day and addresses challenges faced by female designers in the 21st century.