"Entanglements" presents eleven works from the ifa art collection that illuminate the interwoven history of textiles. These will be shown together with the local artistic position "Cycle of Cotton" by Chemnitz artist Sabine Pank. Tradition and innovation, the interactions between production and material as well as the economic and social conditions are thematised. Textile traditions and production characterise the entire region around Chemnitz. One example is the town of Flöha, which was an important textile location until the early 1990s and whose origins lie in the industrialisation of the region.
The ifa exhibition brings together important pioneers of 20th century art who explored the social interdependencies of textiles, including Hermann Glöckner, Renate Göritz, Asta Gröting, Barbara Klemm, Käthe Kollwitz, Reinhard Mucha, Helga Paris, Rosemarie Trockel and Franz Erhard Walther.
These works come from the ifa art collection. They include items from the graphic art collection of the Centre for Art Exhibitions (ZfK) of the GDR, parts of which were transferred to the ifa in 1991. The ifa, based in Stuttgart, which until then had a similar remit to the ZfK, took over the approximately 10,000 works and continued to manage this part of the foreign cultural policy of the reunified Federal Republic of Germany. Four assemblages by Renate Göritz from the original ZfK collection are now being exhibited again for the first time.
After years of closure, the newly renovated railway station in Flöha reopens its doors as an art station together with the "Purple Path" art and sculpture trail. The station concourse will be the venue for the ifa exhibition "Verstrickungen" (Entanglements). The exhibition was newly developed in cooperation with the Wüstenrot Foundation, the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 and is part of the “Purple Path” art and sculpture trail.
The exhibition was curated by: Susanne Weiß, ifa Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations
With works by: Antje Engelmann, Hermann Glöckner, Renate Göritz, Asta Gröting, Barbara Klemm, Käthe Kollwitz, Reinhard Mucha, Sabine Pank, Helga Paris, Judith Raum, Rosemarie Trockel and Franz Erhard Walther
Further information at Chemnitz 2025: Entanglements: On the role of textiles in art and society
The ifa agora is the central platform for the network, collection and archive of ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen in the field of art. It is a place of transcultural exchange – just as the agora in ancient Greece was a city’s most important meeting place and marketplace. It shows ifa’s relationships and brings them together online.
ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen promotes a peaceful and enriching coexistence between people and cultures worldwide. ifa supports artistic and cultural exchange in exhibition, dialogue and conference programmes, and it acts as a centre of excellence for international cultural relations. It is part of a global network and relies on sustainable, long-term partnerships. ifa is supported by the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, the state of Baden-Württemberg and its capital Stuttgart.
