Global Family

About a quarter of all Karlsruhe residents have an immigrant background. What personal experiences lie behind this statistic? What stories and memories? And how can these be made visible? Ana Rios has dealt with these questions for a long time: in 2013 – at the opening of the permanent exhibition WeltKultur / GlobalCulture – she presented her work as part of the exhibition collection for the first time. In annually changing studio exhibitions, artists devote themselves to the theme of home and identity. Under the title WeltenBürger (World Citizens), Ana Rios presented the life stories of five Karlsruhe residents. The portraits showed the lives of those presented, serving as examples for all those with similar experiences, and thus gave an insight into the recent past of the fan-shaped city.

Ten years later, Ana Rios and her team, led by the artist Markus Jäger and the photographer Jens Steffen Galster, have once again turned to the topics of migration and mobility, as well as the individual experiences and stories of those affected in the Global Family project. This time, the focus is on families and circles of friends, which are increasingly forming global networks. One and the same person has friends and family living in North America and Southeast Asia, on the Arabian Peninsula, as well as in Northern and Southern Europe. This opens up completely new dimensions of family migration, diverse lifestyles and existential changes for many people today. The closest relatives drift apart across the world and yet remain connected via social media. Global Family is about the cultural participation of people who, through migration or flight, have only such global contacts and are in constant exchange with each other.

In the museum x, which was created as a space for creative dialogue between the museum and its visitors, artistic events, encounters and debates will take place that will address the global in the local: Karlsruhe as a hub from which a worldwide network of interpersonal relationships emanates! Participants can leave messages, present their personal connections and meet each other in real and virtual terms. By integrating the digital element into the project, for example, by participating in the Creative Museum, the project team enables a modern approach to the topic. In this way, people from all over the world are given the chance to show themselves and their relationships to everyone in Karlsruhe.

The results of this participatory project flow continuously into the studio exhibition in WeltKultur / GlobalCulture. For the collection exhibition illustrates cultural exchange and mutual enrichment around the world as well. In the studio exhibition, the relationships of scattered families – starting from the Karlsruhe hub – are presented as examples. A globe and a large model ship in the room not only symbolise travelling and emigration: The latter also serves as a display area for a gradually growing photo exhibition with portraits of people from Karlsruhe, their friends and their relatives.

Creative Museum