Yesterday, I wrote an e-mail to the director of the Goethe Institut expressing my concerns about Thein's photography exhibit and I already got a response back. Here is what the Director wrote me:
Dear Kara,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts about our new exhibition, "Thirty-Two Kilos" by Ivonne Thein. Let me assure you that we extensively discussed the implications of these images before we decided to show this exhibition in Washington. We also researched reactions to and media reports on previous showings in Berlin. In my opinion, Ms. Thein made a carefully balanced and highly artistic statement about a very disturbing phenomenon in our societies. A phenomenon that is not limited to the medical condition of anorexia, but concerns the mutilation and manipulation of the human body including drug abuse of athletes and body builders as well. and what about the possibility of "engineering" a "perfect" human body by genetic manipulation in the near future?
I share your concern that some young girls might view these pictures as an expression of their ideals and I am afraid that little can be done to change their attitude. But I am absolutely convinced that the vast majority of viewers will react with horror and pity. I would like to hope that their reactions lead to a deeper awareness and a broader discussion of the problem. Since it is my strong belief that changes in individuals in our societies are best brought upon by an open discussion of the problems, I think that Ms. Thein's artistic -disturbing as it might be - should not be suppressed.
Sincerely,
Heribert Uschtrin, Ph.D.
Director
First of all, I'm thoroughly impressed that Dr. Uschtrin got back to me in less than 24 hours. I really appreciated his response and I am mildly relieved that they at least did some research on reactions to the exhibit in Berlin before they admitted it into the Institut in DC. However, I have no idea what Dr. Uschtrin was talking about in his e-mail about this exhibit portraying the issues of body builders (WTF? - and what is he talking about with genetically engineered bodies in the near future??? Double WTF). There is one thing that Dr. Uschtrin unintentionally changed my mind about though - I need to be expressing my concerns with the artist, not necessarily the gallery. I would love to get a response back from Thein herself about how she is contributing to the problem of glamorizing the thin ideal. You can contact her here.
6 comments:
way to go for speaking up. that's awesome, and i appreciate too he got back to you so quickly.
For the first time, I had my comment deleted. GRRRR! And I thought about it for so long and wrote so much!
In summary, I'm proud of you for speaking up and I think it is really cool that you got a response and that the response was so prompt. I agree with you about the exhibition.
Take care!
-kristin
You go! I admire your assertiveness. I'm actually rather impressed at the reply. I think you are right, though. This should be taken up with the artist rather than the exhibitors or (in my case) newspapers.
I don't necessarily agree with him about the "majority" of viewers being horrified at the pictures. Models there days are that thin, anyway, and this society is already desensitized to it.
Way to be proactive! While I don't necessarily agree with what the Dr. said, I do understand the different perspective. I just think the images are far too triggering - I don't think the art comes across as a "warning" against anorexia )or BODYBUILDING for that matter) at all. But way to go for sticking up for your point of view Kara! xoxo
Kara, yeah for using your voice! It is nice to be heard and validated.
It would be interesting to hear from Thein herself as well.
so cool you were proactive and wrote them!
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