The House of Cards deals with the persecution and murder of people with disabilities during the Nazi era, remembrance, and how we handle history. In this work, we also ask ourselves what the events from that time mean for us today. We aim to work through the past but also show how the euthanasia ideology continues to have an impact on the present.
The topic of people with disabilities is still burdened with negative connotations and stereotypical attributions, whose origins can be traced back to the ideology of that time. Prenatal diagnosis and cost/benefit calculations in support and caregiving still determine the discourse in practice, while the concept of inclusion comparatively has more theoretical influence.
The model is intended to show how, on the one hand, memories can build upon each other but can also collapse if we forget, repress, or poorly embed certain aspects within society.
In the picture you can see a house built of 15 canvas like a pyramid made of playing cards. In the first layer of the house there are pictures depicting the horrors of the National Socialism time and the atrocities, commited by the Nazis against people with special needs. The second layer contains pictures, which address the problem of inclusion and discrimination and also the changing conditions of life for people with special needs. The top layer has 3 pictures, which show the life where every human being is happy.
The art workshop are
Hilde Wittur, Lutz Marx, Wolfgang and Heidi Fassott, Veronika Patzuda, Maximillian Thieme, Tim Hartung, Herbert Mayer, Harald Krainer, Angelika Bartel,
David Permantier, Eva Zulauf, Gisa Schrammel
The Lebenshilfe art workshop is an open group of people with and without disabilities who meet weekly in the Berlinerische Galerie to make art together. The group has been in existence since 1996 and has worked on various topics, but the focus has always been on creating a place for exchange.