Workshop program from 14 September to 4 December 2026, running alongside the exhibition Vietnam. Art.GDR. Reclaiming Solidarity
The exhibition explores the artistic and cultural exchange between Vietnam and the GDR from the 1950s until the end of the GDR in 1990, as well as its aftereffects in contemporary art. In this context, textiles are presented as a culturally, socially, and economically interconnected practice. At its core are artworks that examine the living and working conditions of Vietnamese contract workers in East Germany. Between labor migration, state control, and the demands of socialist production structures, they illuminate individual experiences and collective memories. In doing so, the exhibition opens a space for reflection on power relations, cultural identities, and the possibilities of personal action within social and political frameworks.
In this workshop, we approach the exhibition as a space woven from stories – interwoven with relationships, memories and historical connections between Vietnam and the GDR.
The central question is: What does it mean to connect? How do connections arise between people, materials and narratives? We work with various materials – fabric remnants, paper, plastic and found everyday objects – and explore the Vietnamese tradition of weaving as a form of thinking with the hands.
Through experimentation, fragile, individual works emerge. Small woven pieces in which traces of origin, memory and the present overlap. In this context, material appears not merely as a medium, but as a carrier of stories that can be transformed and reassembled.
This gives rise to a process of interweaving: from many individual elements, new connections emerge that become visible, tangible and narrable.
The workshop combines conversation, perception and artistic practice – and opens up a space in which personal stories can be translated into material.