Blick in den Schatten. St. Pölten und der Nationalsozialismus
Special exhibition at Stadtmuseum St. Pölten
Discursive exhibition design.
Under the direction of Johann Moser, BWM Designers & Architects created an exhibition design that corresponds with the way the curators wanted to present the topic: namely, not as a chronicle of historical facts that are set in stone, but rather as a well-founded narrative that invites discussion. The pared back architecture of the exhibition makes this transparent.
The exhibits are displayed on slanted white panels that are loosely positioned throughout the museum’s white rooms. Historical artifacts seem to emerge from the surfaces. The supporting structures, which are made of untreated wood and attached to the backs of the display panels, are not concealed but rather visible to visitors.
The exhibition explores the era of Nazi rule in St. Pölten, as well as its precursors and its continuities that stretch into the present day. We attached great importance to showing that St. Pölten had a long history of National Socialism predating the “Anschluss” of 12 March 1938. The wealth of material kept in the city’s archives and in the Stadtmuseum, complemented by loan pieces, made it possible to distil the most significant aspects to illustrate the effects this inhuman regime had on the city and its inhabitants. Of course, the exhibition does not claim to be exhaustive; it is often only possible to allow a “glimpse into the shadows” where the contours are blurred. Individuals suffered complex fates that often extend beyond black and white terms. It was important to us to open the space up for the memories and thoughts of the victims of the Nazi reign. The exhibition hopes to spark debate not only about the Nazi era, as uncomfortable as that may be, but also about the threat to democracy today. In cooperation with Tangente St. Pölten under the theme of “Memory”.
Task
Design of the exhibition “Blick in den Schatten. St. Pölten und der Nationalsozialismus” (Glimpse into the shadows. St. Pölten and Nazism), a special exhibition at the Stadtmuseum St. Pölten.
Date
06/2024
Client
NÖ Kulturlandeshauptstadt St.Pölten GmbH
BWM Team
Johann Moser, Marie-Sophie Habermann, Kinga Baluch
Image credit
Stadtmuseum St. Pölten in Kooperation mit der Tangente St. Pölten - Festival für Gegenwartskultur © Klaus Pichler
Participants
Ausstellungsgrafik
studio-itzo (Rainer Stadlbauer, Martina Schiller)
Vermittlungsbüro
trafo.k (Renate Höllwart, Simon Nagy)
Künstlerisches Interventionen
Tatiana Lecomte, Nina Prader
Related news
17 June 2024
Blick in den Schatten
Last week, the St. Pölten City Museum, in cooperation with Tangente, opened one of its largest exhibitions to date, "Blick in den Schatten. St. Pölten and National Socialism". This makes the harbingers of National Socialism from 1900, the period of the reign of terror and the socio-political continuities up to the present day tangible. BWM were responsible for the exhibition design.
