Hosen haben Röcke an / Pants Wear Skirts

A book cover with a split design. The left side is a collage of black-and-white and color photos showing women, old city buildings, and a blue book titled Ich bin eine Hexe. The right side is white with orange text that reads Hosen haben Röcke an / Pants Wear Skirts, and Künstlerinnen Gruppe Erfurt / The Erfurt Women Artists' Group, 1984-1994. Two thick black brushstrokes are below the title, with publisher information at the bottom.

A bilingual table of contents from a book, with text in German and English. Titled Inhalt Contents, it has a minimalist design with a pale lavender sidebar on the left. The page lists chapters with bold headings like FRAUENTRÄUME WOMEN'S DREAMS and DIE GEISTER BERÜHREN TO TOUCH THE SPIRITS, along with author names and page numbers. An appendix is listed at the end.

A two-page magazine spread about the Künstlerinnengruppe Erfurt, an East German women artists' collective. On the left, a vertically oriented color photograph shows the group sitting on a railing, dressed in eccentric, handmade costumes and masks. The right page features text in both German and English under the title, Jobs are still available in the arts – An introduction.

An art poster with a list of names on the left. On the right, a photograph shows the Erfurt Women Artists' Group in 1990. Five women pose in avant-garde costumes in front of an abstract painting. A central nude figure is covered in white body paint with black stripes. Others wear a plastic suit, a textured knit sweater with a face on it, and a mirrored, geometric helmet.

A page layout featuring a diptych of two grainy, vintage-style photographs at the top. The left image shows two women pushing against each other in front of a red fabric backdrop. The right image shows a person lying on a sheet on a grassy hill. Below is a small third photo and vertical text that reads Frauenträume Women's Dreams.

A two-page spread from a publication with the titles Women's Dreams and Frauenträume. The left page features a large, grainy photograph of a person's bare torso with a green pear resting on one breast, and a hand reaching from the dark background. Below is text in English. The right page contains the corresponding German text and a small black and white photo of a woman with her arms outstretched.

A grainy, retro-style film poster from 1988 with a blue sky background and a black film-strip border. A person's dark silhouette is obscured by a large, translucent pinkish cloth that is motion-blurred as it billows in the wind. The text COMIC – COMICAL and KOMIK – KOMISCH is at the top.

A page from a book with text in German and English, showing several photographs of people in costumes made from newspapers. The largest photo, in color, shows a person in a dynamic pose wearing a full suit and pointed hat made of newspaper with red plastic trim. To the left is a vertical series of three smaller, black-and-white photos showing other people wearing different styles of paper and newspaper clothing. The text discusses these artistic costumes created in East Germany in the late 1980s.

A black-and-white page from a publication with columns of German and English text. The right side features a poster for a show called MODEN-OBJEKTSHOW AVANTFEMME, with a bold, abstract graphic of a jagged face. Below the poster are event details and a small, inset color photograph of a person covered by a white sheet on the pavement.

A page from a publication by Katalin Krasznahorkai. On the left is a large, grainy, close-up photograph of a person wearing a voluminous, textured red garment. On the right are two columns of text, one in English under the heading CROSS-OVER, and the other in German under the heading DIE ÜBERFAHRT. A small inset photo at the bottom right shows a close-up of two hands pulling a blue dress across a table.

A composite image from a publication, showcasing various German artworks and event announcements. On the left are a red abstract print, line drawings, blue sketches of figures, and a poster from 1992. On the right, a larger collage features a black-and-white photo of performers in elaborate masks, with text for a 2022 performance by the künstlerinnengruppe erfurt.

Hosen haben Röcke an / Pants Wear Skirts

Künstlerinnengruppe Erfurt / The Erfurt Women Artists' Group 1984-1994

€ 38.00

VAT included. Shipping costs will be calculated at checkout

Edited by: Susanne Altmann, Kata Krasznahorkai, Christin Müller, Franziska Schmidt, Sonia Voss, nGbK, Berlin

Graphic Design: Klimaite Klimaite, Berlin

Artist: Künstlerinnengruppe Erfurt

Texts by: Susanne Altmann, Kata Krasznahorkai, Christin Müller, Franziska Schmidt, Sonia Voss

German, English

March 2023, 256 Pages, 200 Photos

softcover

198mm x 276mm

ISBN: 978-3-7757-5258-9

HATJE CANTZ VERLAG
Mommsenstr. 27
10629 Berlin
Germany
E-Mail: contact@hatjecantz.de

According to Article 9(7) of the GPSR Regulation, no additional security information is required for books without supplements or special functions.

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| A Mosaic of Femininity

Founded in 1984 by women around Gabriele Stötzer, the Erfurt Women Artists' Group pursued a radically creative lifestyle to counter the rigid structures of everyday life in the GDR, over a period of ten years. Subversive, witty, borne of a liberating sense of defiance against normative gender roles, their artistic expressions provide an insight into the little-known feminist subculture in the GDR. Their pioneering role in terms of an exploration of female identity is particularly reflected through five experimental Super 8 films, subsequent live performances, and fashion-object shows. Often unfolding intuitively from sequences of audio, dance, and literary elements, self-created and provocative costumes that served as alter egos of the artists took center stage. Their political commitment culminated in December 1989 in the first occupation of a Stasi, State Security Service, headquarters, initiated by five women, three of whom were part of the group.

The ERFURT WOMEN ARTISTS' GROUP remained active with personnel changes—Monika Andres, Tely Büchner, Elke Carl, Monique Förster, Gabriele Göbel, Ina Heyner, Verena Kyselka, Claudia Morca Bogenhardt, Bettina Neumann, Ingrid Plöttner, Marlies Schmidt, Gabriele Stötzer, Harriet Wollert and others—until 1994.