There are over 1,900 streets, bridges, and squares in Karlsruhe. Of these, almost 600 are named after men and around 80 after women and female tale figures. This corresponds to a binary gender difference of more than 7:1—queer and trans realities, disabled people, and people of color remain entirely invisible.
Whose Stories examines urban memory and aims to tell Karlsruhe urban stories otherwise. A series of sound pieces draw a fragmentary memory collage of past-present-future, focusing on the every day and the situated, questioning the institutionalized, and embracing what’s in flux. These sound memories can be experienced from within Karlsruhe as sound walks or from afar through an interactive digital map. The website engages with the politics of visibility on different levels: Current memory culture is addressed through the politics of street naming in Karlsruhe. A second layer is dedicated to the experience of Karlsruhe beyond written history and architectural aspects, emphasizing an understanding of the city as a social and emotional space. Departing from Karlsruhe, the view zooms in and out and asks: “Who becomes visible under which circumstances, and what stories are told?”
Website with the map of the project: www.whose-stories.com
Supported by the UNESCO City of Media Arts Karlsruhe Project Funding Program for Media Arts 2023.
Shown at Media art is here (2024).
Time: 15.08.2024 – 15.09.2024
Locations: Rahel-Straus-Str., Hirschbrücke, Kronenplatz