Buchpräsentation und Gespräch: Luise Schröder. Strömungen in Bewegung

In the organizer's words:

As part of the Night of the Libraries, Luise Schröder will be presenting her publication Strömungen in Bewegung . Luise Schröder addresses the experiences and activities of non-governmental women's and lesbian groups in the GDR in the 1980s and 1990s both in terms of content and aesthetics. The image and text materials used come from the GrauZone collection of the Archive of the GDR Opposition and the Spinnboden Lesbian Archive & Library. They were artistically processed and alienated by Luise Schröder. In conversation with cultural scientist Paula Kreutzmann, who is researching the lesbian movement in the GDR, the importance of archives as powerful institutions will be highlighted.

The event is a cooperation between the GfZK and MONAliesA - Feminist Library and Archive as part of the first Night of Libraries in Leipzig.

Strömungen in Bewegung was published in March 2025 by FOTOHOF'EDITION and was designed by Anika Rosen. In Strömungen in Bewegung, Luise Schröder looks at strategies of self-empowerment and feminist resistance practices and places them in relation to the present in order to enable plural and alternative perspectives on GDR history. The artists' publication was commissioned, supported and financed by the Berlin Artistic Research Program, the Stiftung Kunstfonds / Neustart Kultur and the SpallArt Collection.

Luise Schröder is a visual artist who addresses the significance of history for the present in her artistic works, photographs, videos and publications. Based on her East German biography and the GrauZone collection of the Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft e. V. / Archive of the GDR Opposition, Luise Schröder has been working on the content and aesthetics of non-governmental women's and lesbian groups in the late GDR since 2020. Luise Schröder studied photography and media art at the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts and her work has been presented internationally, including at Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin; Center Pompidou, Paris; 7th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, Berlin; Galerie EIGEN+ART, Leipzig/Berlin. She is currently a fellow of the Berlin Artistic Research Program 2024/25. More information can be found here.

Paula Kreutzmann is a cultural scientist and gender researcher. Her research focuses on the history of marginalized perspectives in the GDR, the current reception of 1989/90 and post-socialist transformation processes. In her master's thesis, she examined the specific experiences of East German lesbians in 1989/90 and in the years of upheaval after the end of the GDR. She has been a volunteer at MONAliesA - Feminist Library and Archive for three years.

MONAliesA - Feminist Library and Archive was founded in 1990 by activists from the Leipzig Women's Initiative and is closely linked to the local history of transformation. In the tradition of women's lesbian libraries and archives, MONAliesA is also a place for feminist events and movements. These areas were deliberately brought together in one and the same institution in order to enable the remembrance and research of women's movement history(ies), political education and feminist mobilization in a comprehensive manner. Preserving this heritage and communicating its interpretations in the present is what drives the (largely) voluntary FLINTA* collective to constantly provide new impetus and jointly develop the profile of the library and archive. You can find more information here.

This event is part of the Night of the Libraries.

Price information:

Free admission, In German, GfZK Library