Andrea Büttner

The artwork Karmel Dachau by Andrea Büttner was part of the exhibition Tell me about ~~yesterday~~ tomorrow (Nov. 28, 2019 until Oct. 18, 2020).

In her works of art and exhibitions, Andrea Büttner (born in Stuttgart in 1972) creates fields of tension between ethics and aesthetics, subjectivity and culture. In a variety of media, she addresses different forms of poverty, shame, sexuality, and vulnerability, and looks at the belief systems on which they are based. Her works often combine artistic and non-artistic issues that involve human existence in relation to work, community, or faith. In this context, she frequently dedicates her attention to female religious orders.

Karmel Dachau, 2019

Video, 50 min

n her video Karmel Dachau, Andrea Büttner deals with the Carmelite convent Heilig Blut, founded in 1964, which is located next to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. The proximity to a location so steeped in history, where almost two hundred thousand people experienced incomprehensible suffering, was an intentional choice by the Carmelite nuns. In addition to the memorial, the idea of the convent was to create space for reconciliation. As a contemplative community, the Carmelites see prayer as their main task. The windows of the sisters’ rooms face the former concentration camp. Another significant reason for founding this order was that many Catholic priests were among the prisoners of the concentration camp. In her video, Büttner seeks a dialog with the nuns. The video sensitively addresses the relationship between remembrance and suppression, religion and violence, and above all between crime, contemplation, and forgiveness.