Refashioning the Ethiopian monarchy in the twentieth century: An intellectual history

This article traces the shift in the Ethiopian monarchical ideology from lineage as symbolic Christian filiation to dynasty as a political genealogy of sovereign power. From the end of the nineteenth century, and more prominently under Haylä Səllase, Ethiopian state sources started qualifying the Ethiopian ruling dynasty as ‘unbroken’ in history. A record of ‘uninterrupted’ power allowed the Ethiopian government to politically appropriate past glories and claim them as ‘ours’, thus compensating for the political weakness of the present with the political greatness of the past. The ideological rebranding of the Ethiopian monarchy in the 1930s brought Ethiopia closer to Japan, and the ‘eternalist clause’ of the Meiji constitution offered a powerful model of how to recodify dynasty in modern legal terms. An intellectual history of dynasty in the Ethiopian context sees the concept simultaneously associated with both hegemonic and counter-hegemonic political projects. The narratives of continuity enabled by the dynastisation of history were successful in invigorating the pro-Ethiopian front during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia (1936-1941), but served at the same time to reinforce domestic mechanisms of class, political and cultural domination

Istanbul Next Wave and Other Turkish Art Exhibits: From Governance of Culture to Governance through Culture

Exhibited from November 12, 2009, through January 17, 2010, three art shows under the common title Istanbul Next Wave introduced a newly narrated Turkish history of modern art to German audiences. This Turkish intervention, which led to unprecedented curatorial co-operations by established German and Turkish institutions of contemporary art, is juxtaposed with other Istanbul exhibits from the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, such as Urbane Realitäten – Focus Istanbul, berlin . istanbul . vice . versa, and Call me ISTANBUL ist mein Name, in order to examine the controversies, negotiations, and collaborations that defined recent presentations of Turkish artists’ work in Germany. In a diachronic approach focusing on questions of interventions, this article thus inquires into this particular strand of the history of exhibiting contemporary art in Germany, going back to the early displays of works by Turkish artists in the 1970s and 1980s. Layer by layer, it examines the intricate relations between the presentation of Turkish art and the representation of Turks in Germany, which have done more than merely reflecting, shaping, and molding audiences’ receptions, reviews in the media, and public debates at large. The paper aims at evaluating Turkish art interventions in Germany in relation to processes of Europeanization

The New Diversity and the New Public: Impressions of dOCUMENTA (13)

Long before dOCUMENTA (13) opened in 2012, designated documenta director Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev pledged that “her” documenta would stay clear of what she called the “Biennale-Syndrome.”  What was the Biennale-Syndrome, and why did she want to avoid it? What seemed to be the challenge here? The Venice Biennale - the first art biennale founded in 1895 – has traditionally defined itself as simultaneously a spectacle and as a representation of nation states through works of visual art. Is it possible for an international art show of its size and prestige to avoid the trend of further festivalization, and can it divest itself of re-mediations of cultural, racial, ethnic, and, in particular, national categories as artistic and aesthetic criteria for includson or exclusion? dOCUMENTA (13) became a record breaking show, visited by 860,000 people in 36 places in Kassel. As such, this 100-day show was, without any doubt, the most popular European art spectacle of the summer of 2012. It appeared, however, remarkably unspectacular. Although featureing the work of 188 international artists hailing from more than 50 countries, nationality did not seem to be a relevant issue. This article takes the reader on a journey back in time, reviewing the past 60 years of the documenta in order to diagnose its paradigmatic shifts. We will tour the 2012 documenta to determine what made Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev’s show stand out from previous documenta exhibitions and the ubiquitous biennials. Drawing upon Levent Soysal’s concept of “Public Intimacy,” and relying on his idea of the “new individual” who engages accordingly with her surroundings and her social environment, the article will discuss how dOCUMENTA (13) enticed its visitors. In turn, Bruno Latour’s “thing theory” will help explain how this most recent documenta rendered nationally defined diversity an obsolete analytic for the presentation of art

The New Diversity and the New Public: Impressions of dOCUMENTA (13)

Long before dOCUMENTA (13) opened in 2012, designated documenta director Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev pledged that “her” documenta would stay clear of what she called the “Biennale-Syndrome.”  What was the Biennale-Syndrome, and why did she want to avoid it? What seemed to be the challenge here? The Venice Biennale - the first art biennale founded in 1895 – has traditionally defined itself as simultaneously a spectacle and as a representation of nation states through works of visual art. Is it possible for an international art show of its size and prestige to avoid the trend of further festivalization, and can it divest itself of re-mediations of cultural, racial, ethnic, and, in particular, national categories as artistic and aesthetic criteria for includson or exclusion? dOCUMENTA (13) became a record breaking show, visited by 860,000 people in 36 places in Kassel. As such, this 100-day show was, without any doubt, the most popular European art spectacle of the summer of 2012. It appeared, however, remarkably unspectacular. Although featureing the work of 188 international artists hailing from more than 50 countries, nationality did not seem to be a relevant issue. This article takes the reader on a journey back in time, reviewing the past 60 years of the documenta in order to diagnose its paradigmatic shifts. We will tour the 2012 documenta to determine what made Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev’s show stand out from previous documenta exhibitions and the ubiquitous biennials. Drawing upon Levent Soysal’s concept of “Public Intimacy,” and relying on his idea of the “new individual” who engages accordingly with her surroundings and her social environment, the article will discuss how dOCUMENTA (13) enticed its visitors. In turn, Bruno Latour’s “thing theory” will help explain how this most recent documenta rendered nationally defined diversity an obsolete analytic for the presentation of art

"Studio of realism": on the need for art in exhibitions on migration history

Ausgangspunkt und Modell dieses Aufsatzes ist "Projekt Migration", eine Ausstellung zur Geschichte der Arbeitsmigration nach Deutschland und zum europäischen Grenzregime, die Alltagsgegenstände und Kunstwerke umfasste. Dieser Aufsatz konzentriert sich auf die Materialität von Ausstellungsobjekten und stellt gegenwartshistorische Ausstellungsansätze innerhalb und außerhalb etablierter öffentlicher Institutionen infrage, die sich hauptsächlich auf Artefakte wie Dokumente und Objekte des täglichen Gebrauchs stützen, wenn sie Migrationsprozesse und das Leben eingewanderter Familien repräsentieren. Die Geschichten, die mit diesen Objekten verbunden sind, beziehen sich besonders auf den Alltag von Männern und Frauen während ihrer ersten Jahre als Arbeitskräfte in Deutschland. Indem sie die Immigranten und Immigrantinnen so zu "ewigen Migrant/innen" machen, neigen Migrationsausstellungen zu einer Fiktionalisierung der Einwanderer und Einwanderinnen, die dann als realistische und neutrale Darstellung erscheint. Im Gegensatz zu Historiker/innen übernehmen Künstler/innen, die ihre Arbeiten signieren, auf eine direktere Weise Verantwortung für die Geschichten und Anspielungen, die bei den Betrachtenden Emotionen evozieren. Sie schaffen so eine kritische Distanz zwischen der betrachtenden Person und dem Objekt und machen die cultural spaces (LIPPARD 2003) zwischen ihnen und der Autorin oder dem Autor wahrnehmbar. Die grundsätzliche Präsentation der Immigranten und Immigrantinnen als "die Anderen" und die damit verbundene voyeuristische Haltung kann so vermieden werden. Künstlerische Arbeiten in Ausstellungen zur Migrationsgeschichte machen es möglich und nötig, dass die Zuschauer und Zuschauerinnen mit und ohne Migrationshintergrund selbst Position beziehen. Dieser Aufsatz spricht für künstlerischer Interventionen in migrationsgeschichtlichen Ausstellungen.This essay takes "Projekt Migration" as point of departure and as a model—an exhibition on the history of labor migration to Germany and on European border politics, which contained both everyday life objects and art works. It concentrates on the materiality of the objects on display and challenges contemporary history scholars' and public historians' approaches, which rely primarily on artifacts, such as documents and objects of daily use, when they represent migration processes and immigrants' lives. The stories associated with these objects often allude to immigrants' everyday practices during their first years abroad. Transforming them into "eternal migrants," exhibits thus tend to create fictionalizations of immigrants, which are then read as realistic and neutral representations. Artists, unlike museum curators, sign their work and thus assume responsibility for the narratives and allusions, which evoke emotions in the viewers. They insert a critical distance between the viewers and the objects, and thus make the "cultural spaces" (LIPPARD, 2003) between object, author, and viewer perceptible. The generalized "othering" of the immigrants and the voyeuristic stance of the viewers towards these others' migratory fates can thus be avoided. Works of art in exhibitions on migration history enable and force the visitors, with or without migration backgrounds, to take position themselves as well. This article therefore argues for the need of artists' interventions in exhibitions on migration history.Este ensayo se centra en la materialidad de los objetos, tomando como punto de partida el "Proyecto Migración", una exposición sobre la historia de la migración de trabajo hacia Alemania y la política fronteriza europea. Desafía los enfoques de eruditos en historia contemporánea y de los historiadores públicos, que confían sobre todo en artefactos, tales como documentos y objetos de uso cotidiano, como representaciones de los procesos de migración y de las vidas de los inmigrantes. Las historias asociadas con estos objetos a menudo refieren a las prácticas cotidianas de los inmigrantes durante sus primeros años en el exterior. De esa manera, transformándolos en "migrantes eternos", la exposición tiende a crear una extraña funcionalización del inmigrante, la que es entonces presentada como una representación realista. Los artistas que, por el contrario, firman su trabajo y asumen la responsabilidad de las narrativas, alusiones y emociones que ellos evocan, introducen una distancia crítica entre los espectadores y los objetos y, de este modo, producen los "espacios culturales" entre el objeto, el autor y el espectador visible. Así, puede evitarse la aparentemente neutral postura voyeurista de espectadores hacia los destinos migratorios de otros. Además, las intervenciones de artistas permiten y fuerzan también a los visitantes a tomar una postura propia. Este artículo por lo tanto apela por la necesidad del arte en las exposiciones sobre historia de la migración

"Realismusstudio" – Zu Kunst in Ausstellungen zur Migrationsgeschichte

This essay takes "Projekt Migration" as point of departure and as a model—an exhibition on the history of labor migration to Germany and on European border politics, which contained both everyday life objects and art works. It concentrates on the materiality of the objects on display and challenges contemporary history scholars' and public historians' approaches, which rely primarily on artifacts, such as documents and objects of daily use, when they represent migration processes and immigrants' lives. The stories associated with these objects often allude to immigrants' everyday practices during their first years abroad. Transforming them into "eternal migrants," exhibits thus tend to create fictionalizations of immigrants, which are then read as realistic and neutral representations. Artists, unlike museum curators, sign their work and thus assume responsibility for the narratives and allusions, which evoke emotions in the viewers. They insert a critical distance between the viewers and the objects, and thus make the "cultural spaces" (LIPPARD, 2003) between object, author, and viewer perceptible. The generalized "othering" of the immigrants and the voyeuristic stance of the viewers towards these others' migratory fates can thus be avoided. Works of art in exhibitions on migration history enable and force the visitors, with or without migration backgrounds, to take position themselves as well. This article therefore argues for the need of artists' interventions in exhibitions on migration history. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1002345Este ensayo se centra en la materialidad de los objetos, tomando como punto de partida el "Proyecto Migración", una exposición sobre la historia de la migración de trabajo hacia Alemania y la política fronteriza europea. Desafía los enfoques de eruditos en historia contemporánea y de los historiadores públicos, que confían sobre todo en artefactos, tales como documentos y objetos de uso cotidiano, como representaciones de los procesos de migración y de las vidas de los inmigrantes. Las historias asociadas con estos objetos a menudo refieren a las prácticas cotidianas de los inmigrantes durante sus primeros años en el exterior. De esa manera, transformándolos en "migrantes eternos", la exposición tiende a crear una extraña funcionalización del inmigrante, la que es entonces presentada como una representación realista. Los artistas que, por el contrario, firman su trabajo y asumen la responsabilidad de las narrativas, alusiones y emociones que ellos evocan, introducen una distancia crítica entre los espectadores y los objetos y, de este modo, producen los "espacios culturales" entre el objeto, el autor y el espectador visible. Así, puede evitarse la aparentemente neutral postura voyeurista de espectadores hacia los destinos migratorios de otros. Además, las intervenciones de artistas permiten y fuerzan también a los visitantes a tomar una postura propia. Este artículo por lo tanto apela por la necesidad del arte en las exposiciones sobre historia de la migración. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1002345Ausgangspunkt und Modell dieses Aufsatzes ist "Projekt Migration", eine Ausstellung zur Geschichte der Arbeitsmigration nach Deutschland und zum europäischen Grenzregime, die Alltagsgegenstände und Kunstwerke umfasste. Dieser Aufsatz konzentriert sich auf die Materialität von Ausstellungsobjekten und stellt gegenwartshistorische Ausstellungsansätze innerhalb und außerhalb etablierter öffentlicher Institutionen infrage, die sich hauptsächlich auf Artefakte wie Dokumente und Objekte des täglichen Gebrauchs stützen, wenn sie Migrationsprozesse und das Leben eingewanderter Familien repräsentieren. Die Geschichten, die mit diesen Objekten verbunden sind, beziehen sich besonders auf den Alltag von Männern und Frauen während ihrer ersten Jahre als Arbeitskräfte in Deutschland. Indem sie die Immigranten und Immigrantinnen so zu "ewigen Migrant/innen" machen, neigen Migrationsausstellungen zu einer Fiktionalisierung der Einwanderer und Einwanderinnen, die dann als realistische und neutrale Darstellung erscheint. Im Gegensatz zu Historiker/innen übernehmen Künstler/innen, die ihre Arbeiten signieren, auf eine direktere Weise Verantwortung für die Geschichten und Anspielungen, die bei den Betrachtenden Emotionen evozieren. Sie schaffen so eine kritische Distanz zwischen der betrachtenden Person und dem Objekt und machen die cultural spaces (LIPPARD 2003) zwischen ihnen und der Autorin oder dem Autor wahrnehmbar. Die grundsätzliche Präsentation der Immigranten und Immigrantinnen als "die Anderen" und die damit verbundene voyeuristische Haltung kann so vermieden werden. Künstlerische Arbeiten in Ausstellungen zur Migrationsgeschichte machen es möglich und nötig, dass die Zuschauer und Zuschauerinnen mit und ohne Migrationshintergrund selbst Position beziehen. Dieser Aufsatz spricht für künstlerischer Interventionen in migrationsgeschichtlichen Ausstellungen. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs100234

Istanbul Next Wave and Other Turkish Art Exhibits: From Governance of Culture to Governance through Culture

Exhibited from November 12, 2009, through January 17, 2010, three art shows under the common title Istanbul Next Wave introduced a newly narrated Turkish history of modern art to German audiences. This Turkish intervention, which led to unprecedented curatorial co-operations by established German and Turkish institutions of contemporary art, is juxtaposed with other Istanbul exhibits from the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, such as Urbane Realitäten – Focus Istanbul, berlin . istanbul . vice . versa, and Call me ISTANBUL ist mein Name, in order to examine the controversies, negotiations, and collaborations that defined recent presentations of Turkish artists’ work in Germany. In a diachronic approach focusing on questions of interventions, this article thus inquires into this particular strand of the history of exhibiting contemporary art in Germany, going back to the early displays of works by Turkish artists in the 1970s and 1980s. Layer by layer, it examines the intricate relations between the presentation of Turkish art and the representation of Turks in Germany, which have done more than merely reflecting, shaping, and molding audiences’ receptions, reviews in the media, and public debates at large. The paper aims at evaluating Turkish art interventions in Germany in relation to processes of Europeanization

"Studio of Realism": On the Need for Art in Exhibitions on Migration History

This essay takes "Projekt Migration" as point of departure and as a model—an exhibition on the history of labor migration to Germany and on European border politics, which contained both everyday life objects and art works. It concentrates on the materiality of the objects on display and challenges contemporary history scholars' and public historians' approaches, which rely primarily on artifacts, such as documents and objects of daily use, when they represent migration processes and immigrants' lives. The stories associated with these objects often allude to immigrants' everyday practices during their first years abroad. Transforming them into "eternal migrants," exhibits thus tend to create fictionalizations of immigrants, which are then read as realistic and neutral representations. Artists, unlike museum curators, sign their work and thus assume responsibility for the narratives and allusions, which evoke emotions in the viewers. They insert a critical distance between the viewers and the objects, and thus make the "cultural spaces" (LIPPARD, 2003) between object, author, and viewer perceptible. The generalized "othering" of the immigrants and the voyeuristic stance of the viewers towards these others' migratory fates can thus be avoided. Works of art in exhibitions on migration history enable and force the visitors, with or without migration backgrounds, to take position themselves as well. This article therefore argues for the need of artists' interventions in exhibitions on migration history. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs100234

Out-patient pulmonary rehabilitation improves medial-lateral balance in people with chronic respiratory disease: Proof-of-concept study

BACKGROUND: Recent studies show balance impairment in subjects with chronic respiratory disease. The aim of this proof-of-concept study was to investigate clinical and quantitative measures of balance in people with chronic respiratory disease following participation in an out-patient pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) program to better understand features of balance improvement. A secondary aim was to probe possible mechanisms for balance improvement to provide the foundation for optimal design of future studies. METHODS: Eleven individuals with chronic respiratory disease enrolled in an 8-week out-patient PR program participated. Standing balance, measured with a force plate, in the medial-lateral and anterior-posterior directions with eyes open and closed was assessed with linear (SD and sway path length) and non-linear (diffusion analysis) center-of-pressure measures. Balance was evaluated clinically with the Timed Up and Go and Four Square Step Test. Fear of falling and balance confidence were assessed with questionnaires. RESULTS: After participation in PR, medial-lateral sway path length decreased (P = .031), and center-of-pressure diffusion in the medial-lateral direction was slower (P = .02) and traveled over less distance (P = .03) with eyes closed. This suggests greater control of medial-lateral sway. There was no change in anterior-posterior balance (P > .067). Performance improved on the Timed Up and Go (median [interquartile range] pre-PR = 9.4 [7.9-12.8] vs post PR = 8.1 [7.3-12.2] s, P = .003) and Four Square Step Test (median [interquartile range] pre-PR = 9.3 [7.2-14.2] vs post-PR = 8.7 [7.4-10.2] s, P = .050). There were no changes in balance confidence (P = .72) or fear of falling (P = .57). CONCLUSIONS: Participation in an 8-week out-patient PR program improved balance, as assessed by clinical and laboratory measures. Detailed analysis of force plate measures demonstrated improvements primarily with respect to medial-lateral balance control. These data provide a basis for the development of larger scale studies to investigate the mechanisms for medial-lateral balance improvements following PR and to determine how PR may be refined to enhance balance outcomes in this population. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration NCT00864084.