Made in Germany? Art and Identity in a Global Nation addresses important questions of contemporary art and belonging in Germany from the 1980s, when discussions about “multiculturalism” in West Germany came to the fore, to our current time, a period still deeply impacted by the country’s unification and more recent migration policies. In the wake of these developments, racial violence, right-wing populism, and ethnically defined nationalism have grown in Germany, mirroring trends seen in other countries as well. Accessible essays on topics such as labor migration, being Black in Germany, and the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall lay the groundwork for understanding the intercultural dynamics in Germany today. Object-focused texts delve into works in various media, from Candida Höfer’s slideshow Turks in Germany 1979, which presented Turkish immigrants as embedded in public life at a time when they were not welcomed as a permanent part of German society, to Ngozi Schommers’s readymade sculpture Commuters, a commentary on the country’s ongoing housing crisis. Made in Germany? argues for a more expansive idea of what it means to be German, spotlighting artists from diverse backgrounds whose works probe notions of national identity.

Lynette Roth is the Daimler Curator of the Busch-Reisinger Museum at the Harvard Art Museums.

With contributions by Natalie Bell, Sara Blaylock, Peter Chametzky, Rita Chin, Amy A. DaPonte, Burcu Dogramaci, Alison Frank Johnson, Candice M. Hamelin, Kevin Hanschke, Lauren Hanson, Natasha A. Kelly, Lisa Lee, Peter Murphy, Lynette Roth, Kyle Stephan, Gary Van Zante, and Katharina Warda.

The exhibition Made in Germany? Art and Identity in a Global Nation is on display at the Harvard Art Museums from September 13, 2024 through January 5, 2025.