Increasingly complex societies require a deeper examination of one’s own identities and status. They raise new questions for the individual and for social interaction. Why are there differences between gender images? Do they provide orientation or do they reinforce injustices? Could we do without them? How have self-images and attributions been changing in history and the present?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hierarchical systems and patriarchal societies have, among other things, led to the emergence of serious social inequalities. In part, these are tolerated and cultivated to this day. Since gender studies is a comparatively young field of research, and historical evidence is sometimes lacking or only fragmentary, we can often only speculate or raise further questions about how past societies dealt with gender issues. Today, non-binary, inter-gender viewpoints and the inclusion of perspectives of intersectional discrimination are important aspects for dealing with historical documents and objects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project show ReThinking IDENTITIES uses three objects from three different collections and different times, as well as questions about personal attitudes, to investigate the question: “Who determines who I am? Do the people and systems that surround us shape us? To what extent can we choose and influence our identity ourselves?<\/p>\n\n\n