It doesn’t take long to admire the almost surreally ordered buildings. Walter Gropius You would get the impression that the man wanted to usher in a new world, especially considering that many of them were founded before World War II. Please take it bauhaus dessau buildingDespite being completed exactly a century ago, it looks like a concrete transmission from a future that never arrived, or indeed one that may still be on its way. It was once home to the German Academy of Arts, a political and cultural force he founded in 1919. Its principles included absolute equality between male and female participants. Or, in any case, they were equal in the beginning.
Gropius soon decided that the new institution, with too many women, would not be taken seriously, and he limited enrollment to one-third of the student body. This episode appears in Suzanne Redelhoff’s documentary, among other episodes that highlight that Gropius and the Bauhaus’s ostensible commitment to women’s empowerment was not all that was said. The untold stories of Bauhaus women.
But whatever the department’s shortcomings from a 21st century perspective, the fact remains that Bauhaus enabled, or at least encouraged, more enduring and influential work by women artists and designers than almost any other early 20th century European art school.
The film profiles some of the approximately 500 women who studied at Bauhaus, such as Alma Buscher, who “created prototypes for avant-garde furniture and toys.” Marianne Brandt, a “visionary metalworker and designer”. Gunta Stölzl, whose “Weavings revolutionized modern textile design” (Weavings eventually became the major program in which women were admitted); Friedl Dicker, a “versatile artist” devoted to Bauhaus. And Lucia Moholy says, “The extraordinary photographs still influence the way we view Bauhaus design today.” Although the school itself may have been closed in 1933 due to conflicts between its aesthetic and political aims and those of the rising Nazi Party, the progressive nature and global cultural influence of the Bauhaus ensures that we still feel the influence of its alumni, both male and female.
Related content:
Female pioneers of the Bauhaus art movement: discover Gertrud Arndt, Marianne Brandt, Anni Albers and other forgotten innovators
clock bauhaus worlda free documentary celebrating the 100th anniversary of Germany’s legendary school of art, architecture and design.
Politics and Philosophy of the Bauhaus Design Movement: A Brief Introduction
Women of Bauhaus: See hip, avant-garde photos of female students and instructors at the famous art school
Oral history of the Bauhaus: Hear rare interviews with Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and more
Bauhaus Bookshelf: Download the original Bauhaus books, magazines, manifestos and advertisements that continue to inspire designers around the world
Based in Seoul, Colin Mbemust write and broadcastIt’s about cities, languages and cultures. he is the author of the newsletter books about cities books as well Home page (I won’t summarize Korea) and korean newtro. Follow him on the social network formerly known as Twitter. @Colinbemust.
Source: Open Culture – www.openculture.com
