The collaborative project Meet the Memory Person (Der Erinnerungsmensch) launched in 2022 as part of an open call for public art. The brief sought an artwork commemorating local cultural practitioners who were forced into exile during the Nazi regime—a narrative that traditional monuments rarely, if ever, present in a polyphonic way.

The Memory Person acts as a counter-monument. What makes it unique is its temporary, performative presence in public space. Embodied by various project participants, this living figure engages in chance encounters and spontaneous interactions with passersby. This way, the project collects stories from individuals whose lived realities are as diverse as urban society itself, focusing primarily on personal experiences of exile and migration.

The collected stories and memories are not only narrated, but translated into artistic contributions. These emerge both spontaneously from initial or renewed encounters and through workshops hosted via open calls. The project explores how personal memories take shape, how they can be translated into artistic mediums, and what it signifies when they become part of the public realm.

These creative memory contributions are presented in an online Open Archive, an expandable catalog, and curated memory walks. During these walks, The Memory Person leads participants to sites whose histories of migration and exile remain invisible in today’s cityscape—such as former forced labor camps or sites related to the history of Gastarbeiter:innen (guest workers). In doing so, past and present experiences of exile and migration enter into a direct dialogue.

Alexey Yevets | Aydin Alinejad | Anick Messerschmitt | Dominik von Gunten | Dmitrii Ostrtsov | Eliza Kokeyan | Elvin Turgut | Emver Retzep Oglou | Franziska Windolf with quotations paraphrasing Adnan Al-Dhahir, Haydar Işık, Ivan Binar, Milorad Vujovic, Wladimir Nikolajewitsch Woinowitsch | Halina Prakapenka | Hammoud Radwan | Hanna Vasina | Iriet Yusuf | Iriet Yusuf and Giesinger pupils | Kathrin Knöpfle | Katja Kushnir | Ksenia Bykovsky | Leonid Hrytsak | Liana Chernetska | Maisoun Alfarawati | Manuel Friedrich | Mariam Monga | Matyáš Slabý & Barbora Šubrotová & Jakub Klimeš | Mehmet “Schlosser” | Miriam Worek | Natalia Shynkarova | Nicolas Wannenmacher | Olena Mytko | Pepi | Ping-Pong group | Polina Nagurnaia | Seb | Selin Julia Sissiyo | Simona Pekařová | smadlmachts | Sudipa Roy | Su Turhan | Viktoriia Ivasyshyna | Some, who wish to remain anonymous

Initiative: Franziska Windolf, in cooperation with Leonid Hrytsak
Curation: Mareike Schwarz  (2022/23)
Performers: Lisavieta Bogushevskaya, Simone Kokou, Viviana Iacob, Franziska Windolf, Konouz Saeed, Kathrin Knöpfle, Jegor Kondratyuk, Polina Khatsenka