2024-08-06 09:27:00
University of Freiburg in cooperation with The Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr Potsdam and the Bundeswehr Military History Museum for twelve years he studied the phenomenon of the emergence of heroes in public opinion.
The results were presented at the site of the old Berlin-Gatow airport (Flugplatz Berlin-Gatow), where today the Military History Museum is located. However, the exhibition entitled “Heroic Principle – About Heroes and Heroes” (“Prinzip Held *. Von Heroisierungen und Heroismen”), produced by Rimini Protokoll, makes people look at big names with skepticism.
The space of the museum immerses the viewer in a special atmosphere
Once on the large area of the museum, where military planes from different eras are frozen in the open air, it is difficult not to succumb to the ways of war and terror of people in the uniform of pilots plane, that made history. world powers with movements of control. The exhibits of the Military History Museum are located in the area of the former airport and tell the 120-year history of the development of military aviation in Europe.
The new exhibition “Hero Process” is located in hangar number 5. It is immediately distinguished from other rooms by an unusually decorated entrance – the visitor enters the exhibition space to a loud sound recording of extraordinary noises of the people, making his way. by hanging panels with photos of hundreds of people. In contrast to the classic design of the museum’s permanent exhibits with their life-size airplane models and life details of military heroes, the spacious hangar gives the impression of a sports interrogation room. The exhibition was designed by curator Gorch Pieken and designed by Helgard Haug and Daniel Wetzel of Rimini Protokoll, together with designer Dominik Steinmann.
The hangar space is divided into sections, each requiring an action from the visitor: sit on a bench and read the signs of the unique industrial machine, enter the ring and fight an opponent, climb the podium and read the cancellation text of a politician. The unusual furniture used to decorate the exhibition has its own story. This is the 1972 collection of Otto “Otl” Aicher, created specifically for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, and later transferred to the German military.
How heroes are born in society
44 heroes from different times and fields of activity tell visitors to the exhibition their stories: athletes, politicians, scientists, rock stars, military men, people whose names have not been saved or, on the contrary, have become pop clichés: the Beatles, Greta Thunberg, Alexander the Great, Valentina Tereshkova, Edward Snowden.
Gradually, from complex to complex, the observer understands the general rules by which the images of new heroes constantly appear in the mind of society.
Greta Thunberg, Alexander the Great, Valentina Tereshkova, Edward Snowden – at an exhibition in Berlin they told how heroes were born Image: DW
The first are: heroes often break the normal boundaries of what is possible and change the standards of society. A hero does not exist without the public, the audience, the passionate fans. This means that your hero – real or imaginary – must definitely be corrected. Today this happens through the media and social networks in the same way as before – through legends and myths. The hero is raised in a harmonious society, with equal values. After all, often what is a duty for some is a sin for others. Climate activists can only be championed by those who recognize climate change as humanity’s greatest challenge. To everyone else, they are a nuisance that disrupts travel, creates chaos, and destroys priceless works of art. In Central Asia, Genghis Khan has been considered a role model of heroism for centuries. At the same time, in European culture, his actions were considered massacre and cruelty to civilians.
One of the most important characteristics of glory is the emphasis on masculinity. Female heroes often have to look like men in order to achieve status in society’s eyes. Melli Beese, who was the first person in Germany to obtain a pilot’s license, overcame social opposition and was forced to act and dress “like a man.”
The research on which the show “The Hero Process” is based tells about the consequences to which the hero’s nature is subjected. In many cases, in a social myth the hero works alone, while his closest companions, without whom the “success” would not have happened, are deleted from the hero’s story. Thus, biologist Louis Pasteur gained worldwide fame with his research. However, his colleagues Emile Roux and Charles Chamberlain, who worked with him and made important contributions to scientific works, were unequivocally neglected.
The heroes that always exist
Some heroes are often replaced by others, as the creators of the show “The Way of the Hero” show. Today, Christopher Columbus’ status as a heroic explorer is under strong criticism. The Native American people asked to remember the tragedy of their ancestors as a result of these discoveries. Their voices became important in defining Columbus’ legacy.
This is the “Hero Machine”, which the guests themselves launched Photo: DW
The heroic story of the polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott, who with four companions lost the “race to the South Pole” and died from malnutrition, disease and hypothermia, is also repeated. In his native Great Britain, Scott has long been considered a national hero. It was only in the 1970s that the myth was dispelled, and now there is debate in the scientific community whether we should consider Scott a hero or an unsophisticated villain who led the expedition to his death.
The height of the angry man of heroes is suddenly disturbed by one of the final stops of the exhibition. It has been dedicated to the student research of the University of Freiburg for many years. In the “Who’s your hero” situation, the parents unexpectedly won among the teenagers. “My mom. You support me even if I’m wrong.” “My hero is my father who is always by my side,” the students answered.
At the end of the exhibition “The Hero’s Process – About the Hero and the Hero,” visitors will find an unusual attraction in the nearby area. This is the “Hero Machine”, which is launched by the guests themselves by pressing a total of 20 levers located in your area. Then, emitting the sounds of the airship and releasing the airship, a giant, innocent-looking figure flew up in the middle of the hall, much to the delight of the children who swung the magic instrument around. happy Once the audience stops voluntarily pumping air into it, the figure slowly deflates, beautifully summing up years of scientific research into the process of creating heroes.
Exhibition “Heroic Process – about glory and heroism” will be on view at the Berlin Gatow Airfield Military History Museum until November 3, 2024. Free at the entrance.
#Tereshkova #Snowden #heroes #born #society