Admission free
Installation Mann Family House by Michaela Melián at nsdoku, 2019 | © NS-Dokumentationszentrum München, photo: Connolly Weber Photography
The artwork Mann Family House by Michaela Melián was part of the exhibition Tell me about yesterday tomorrow (Nov. 28, 2019 until Oct. 18, 2020).
Michaela Melián (born in Munich in 1956) is interested in the political dimensions of remembrance and the aftereffects of phenomena from contemporary history. Her multimedia audio and spatial installations frequently start out with stories associated with a particular place, object, or person. When combined with contemporary themes and techniques, these references form complex systems that point to a wide range of social, aesthetic, and political questions.
Wood, plastic, varnish, steel, projection, sound, 82 x 68 x 240 cm
Mann Family House is a model of the former home of Thomas Mann’s family, which artist Michaela Melián re-created as a dovecote. For 19 years, until their exile in the spring of 1933, the villa at Poschinger Str. 1 in Munich was the center of the family’s life. It is also where many of Mann’s important texts were written. His six children developed their early artistic creativity here, and international guests came and went. The Manns’ home was seized by the Nazis in August 1933, and their possessions were auctioned off. The house was heavily damaged during World War II and ended up being demolished in 1952. The family was scattered around the world and did never return to Munich. In her model, Melián reconstructs a lively place whose windows transmit visual and acoustic messages. Along with their musical preferences, the work also features quotes from letters and texts by family members, reflecting on their time in Munich and their experiences in exile.
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