Wer ist diese Frau? (Who is this woman?)

For International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month 2023, the Library of FLINTA* Artists, Weimar in collaboration with Projektraum 11m3, presented Who is this Woman? a window exhibition exploring the representation of FLINTA* people in the arts through the lens of an iconic photograph of an unknown woman taken by Erich Consemüller in 1927. The names associated with the Bauhaus objects she is presenting are credited: Club Chair B3 by Marcel Breuer, mask by Oskar Schlemmer, dress fabric by Lis Beyer. But not hers.

There is much speculation about who this woman might be, with four women, each important creatives in their own right, linked to her identity. However, the fact she remains anonymous highlights the broader issue of the erasure and marginalisation. Through this participatory exhibition, we invited visitors to learn more about these women and consider the implications of this anonymity. Unfortunately, we will never know for sure who she is, but by engaging with this photograph and asking questions about her identity, we hope to spark important conversations about representation, equity, and access in the arts so that future contributions by the FLINTA* artistic community can be recognised and appreciated.

~Sophie Foster

Note: Thumbnail photo by Carlos Santos