Das Gesicht. Eine Spurensuche

Special exhibition Das Gesicht. Eine Spurensuche [The Face. A Search for Clues]

Concept and advisoring: Sigrid Weigel (ZfL)
Curator of the exhibition: Kathrin Meyer (Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden)

Faces gaze at us constantly – from portraits of celebrities in glossy magazines and screens, selfies on the internet, to posters and paintings. Innumerable cameras and databases record and store images of faces. How does this ubiquitous mediation transform our relationship to the face itself? What kind of influence does it have on our self-perception and modes of communication?

The exhibition addresses these questions in four chapters: »Das Gesicht als Gestalt [The face as form]«, »Mimik und Ausdruck [Facial expression]«, »Punkt – Punkt – Komma – Strich [Dot – Dot – Comma – Dash]«, »Das Gesicht als Bildnis [The face as portrait]«. Through objects drawn from art, cultural history and science, this exhibition investigates the face and various dimensions of its myriad meanings.

The exhibition catalogue is edited by Sigrid Weigel for the Deutsche Hygiene-Museum, entitled Das Gesicht. Bilder, Medien, Formate [The face. Images, media, formats] (Wallstein Verlag Göttingen 2017, 207 pages). It includes essays by Andreas Beyer, Hans Belting, Corina Caduff, Valentin Groebner, Thomas Macho, Angelika Neuwirth, Ulrike Vedder among others, as well as contributions by ZfL affiliated scholars Uta Kornmeier, Mona Körte, Tatjana Petzer and Judith Elisabeth Weiss.

The Exhibition in the Media

• Verschiedene Facetten. Das Gesicht – und was dahinter steckt. Article by Sven Eichstädt, in: Ärzte Zeitung online on 29 Oct 2017
• tagesthemen. TV reportage, in: ARD, program: tagesthemen on 07 Sep 2017, starting at 25:40 min
• So maskiert. Article by Rafael Barth, in: Sächsische Zeitung Magazin on 26/27 Aug 2017, p. M2/M3
• Das Gesicht – Eine Spurensuche. Radio reportage, in: radioeins vom RBB, program: Die Profis on 26 Aug 2017
• Nicht dein Gesicht. Article by Mladen Gladić, in: der Freitag on 24 Aug 2017, p. 19
• Das Gesicht in 300 Facetten – Sonderausstellung im Hygienemuseum. TV reportage, in: Sachsen Fernsehen on 21 Aug 2017
• Das Gesicht. Eine Spurensuche. Ausstellung im Hygienemuseum Dresden. Radio reportage, in: Deutschlandfunk Kultur, program: Fazit on 19 Aug 2017