Ident•i•gration – home and identity in a globalized world

“Where do you come from?” Some of us answer this everyday question simply  – without any ulterior motives, while this question perplexes others. There are many possible answers: „from the bakery“, „from the hairdresser – can´t you see that?”, „from the supermarket“ „from Harz“ and „from Hamburg”. Sometimes the answer leaves the questioner unsatisfied: “No, I do not mean THAT, I mean, where do you originally come from?”

“Where do you come from?” opens up the vast field of our definition of identity and how we classify affiliations. When the question is directed to one of the 19.5 million people with a migrant background living in Germany, it is usually meant as an attempt, to place the subject in familiar categories in order to better relate to them. But instead of getting to know them, the question often blurs individualities and stigmatizes the person as „the other“.

Ident•i•gration investigates how identity is formed in our globalized world. The photographers Schmoo Theune and Susann Tischendorf present us sixteen people from different generations and with very different life stories with hybrid narrative forms including photography, texts and archival material. Through these stories they try to answer what identity and homeland can be in our globalized world.

The exhibition takes place as part of the XB-Lab project. Supported by Modellprogramm „Utopolis – Soziokultur im Quartier“ im Rahmen der ressortübergreifenden Strategie Soziale Stadt „Nachbarschaften stärken, Miteinander im Quartier“ des Bundesministeriums des Innern, für Bau und Heimat und der Beauftragten für Kultur und Medien.

Photo © Susann Tischendorf from the series Ident.i.gration