ich bin mir selber fremd geworden
Stimmen aus dem Frauenzuchthaus Hoheneck
Performative concert and commemoration / November 15–16, 2024
The Women’s Prison Hoheneck (near Stollberg/Saxony) has become a symbol of political persecution in the GDR: with draconian, human rights-violating punitive measures, degrading detention conditions, and forced labor in the textile industry, the GDR’s apparatus of power attempted, in many thousands of cases, to break political opponents – the most common “offense” was planned or attempted defection from the Republic. An extraordinary performance of contemporary music, choreography, and light, conceived by the music theater collective Schatz & Schande and the ensemble Neue Kammer, seeks an artistic engagement with these crimes.
Under the title “ich bin mir selber fremd geworden” (I Have Become a Stranger to Myself), poems written by imprisoned women during their time at Hoheneck are brought to the forefront, which were set to music in 2024 by composer Philipp Rücker. In various forms, using voices and string instruments, the poems engage in dialogue with a light installation that makes the colorlessness, confinement, and monotony of the barred everyday life become tangible: Like the gray tones of a black-and-white film, a face, a hand, a silhouette faintly emerges; at the same time, light and shadow become repressive decision-makers regarding proximity and distance, touch and isolation of the participants, who, surrounded by sewing machines, walls, and punishment, try to preserve their inner freedom.
What emerges is a daring, innovative form of memory culture: The artists make the oppressive captivity in Hoheneck tangible with eyes and ears, compellingly conveying a sense of powerlessness and violence – and erect a powerful monument for the imprisoned women out of their own words. After the performance, there will be a panel discussion with witnesses of the time.