shine bright like

In the context of the new Krystallpalast Quartier in central Leipzig, set to open in 2025, Margarita Wenzel examines the layered and often uncomfortable history of the original Krystallpalast, a famed entertainment venue that operated from 1882 to 1943. While the adjacent real estate project by Quarterback Immobilien seeks to present a seamless, celebratory narrative of the site, Wenzel’s work at the a&o Kunsthalle challenges this sanitized retelling. Her exhibition refuses to overlook the venue’s colonial entanglements and its historical role in the exoticization and eroticization of marginalized bodies.

Drawing on photographs mostly taken in the archives of the National Library in Leipzig, wenzel directs her lens away from the colonized individuals themselves. Instead, she focuses on the caricatures and stereotypes enacted by local performers, examining how these images perpetuated dehumanizing narratives. As she engaged with this material—capturing it on her iPhone—Wenzel developed a tactile, almost intimate relationship with the imagery, zooming in and out to dissect its details. Through this process, she created digital stickers adorned with an unsettling glow, amplifying their visual impact and forcing viewers to confront the insidious legacy of these depictions. Wenzel’s act of isolating elements from these historical photographs serves as a visual parallel to the extractive practices of the colonial imagination—an enduring legacy that remains largely unchallenged in contemporary German society.

Through an interplay of text, sound, and projections of these archival images—ranging from performances to statues and films—Wenzel probes the creation of racist stereotypes and underscores the gaps and erasures in public memory. Modular shelving systems, salvaged from historical archives, are repurposed as sculptural elements and projection screens, serving as a metaphor for the silences and omissions that persist in historical narratives.

Running from September 20 to November 30, 2024, the exhibition is further enriched by two symposia exploring colonial legacies and promoting public participation in urban development. Supported by the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony, the stArt Foundation, and the Karin and Uwe Hollweg Foundation, this project stands as a critical response to the uncritical glorification of Leipzig’s past and a call to confront its more complex realities.

You can read the exhibition text by Alison Hugill here.