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Snapshots of aging: The exhibition, “Grey is the new pink”

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Who’s where when old? Under the title, “Grey is the new pink” opened on aging, the Frankfurt weltkulturen Museum on Thursday (25.10.2018) an exhibition on the topic. The DW talked to curator Alice Pawlik.



DW: Every person ages. Why does it need a exhibition to this topic?

Alice Pawlik: Because the age is always changing. The effects of biological aging, which runs quite the same around the world, but every Generation in every culture ages differently. The desires and needs change. And many other aspects – medical, technological, or cultural – that the age is expressed in different cultures of the world differ.

Of course, it depends also on how the society sees the aging. It has a better feel, an affirmation of Life and joy at the age when you will not be stigmatized by the society.

You have worked long with the theme. Have you found a society in which there is a particularly good ageing?

No, and I don’t want to find. The exhibition is not intended to be, a Region or a society as Ideal. The subtitle of the exhibition is “a snapshot of ageing”. It is not a question to find definitions or explanations, but rather to the complexity.

Why is the world cultures Museum in favour of a more appropriate place?

We have in our Museum a collection from all regions of the world. In Ethnology, it is always so that you try and put a oscillating process between the so-called “other” and themselves.

We want as many perspectives as possible, and then our visit to present to visitors. As a visitor, you walk through the exhibition and find out all the possibilities, what is the meaning of the topic of aging. Where you might learn new perspectives. What then inspires you to Think and perhaps to Act.

I am about the title of stumbled upon that is based on a Streaming-series: “Grey is the new pink”. An exhibition on ageing, in need of such a time-bound and also a bit of a lurid title?

As lurid I don’t feel him. Rather, it was to convey that the exhibition brings a change in perspective that it’s not something you can see on the first glance immediately.

Alice Pawlik is responsible for “Grey is the new pink”.

How was the exhibition, was curated by, what is seen now?

What we find now, is a Combination of many different moments and positions. Us was not important that we highlight only one Position – be it the artistic or the scientific. This meant that we have also initiated a larger, world-scale citizen participation. We have called the people: Send us your picture of aging! This could be photographs, sketches, drawings, small movies or just an expression. Basically, a visual answer to the question: How do you see the age?

Have you used social media or direct contacts?

We had about 5000 addresses to which we addressed our question. We have a total of 350 submissions. The Whole thing was created in three months, from January to March of this year. From the submissions, we have selected 165 positions. Together with photographs from the image archive of Visual anthropology, we have brought them together in a large Installation. This is a Central part of our exhibition. Because we want to start with our image, with our ideas, and then through a variety of perspectives in the following areas to expand.

Perspectives that you selected or as a curator have researched?

The exhibition consists of multi-perspective: artists have dealt with the respective subjects, but also people at the intersection of art and Ethnology. For example, the ethnologist Lars Krutaks from the USA with the practice of tattooing. He travels the world and makes stunning photos.

We have also worked with young students, the particular prototypes have been developed, also on the topic of Medical Design: products that can help the elderly or sick people, maybe in the future.

The exhibition also presents the results of the workshop “text designer”.

You have also done something with fairy tales. It makes you think more young people. What fairy tales have to do with aging?

Now, the children of the older generations read Yes most of the time. This is also a part of the knowledge transfer from the older Generation to the Younger. Because in the exhibition, we not only consider the life phase of old age, but also the process of aging. In today’s reality we have to deal with many of the digital processes. How does, for example, on the transmission of Knowledge, if we can now ask Google and Wikipedia? How is the authority of the older people?

And Also older people to read in part now by the Tablet fairy tales before, and no longer from the book. Also very many older people in the social media now: The Instagram account of Berlin’s two “Senior Influencer” Günther Krabbenhöft (geb. 1945), and Britt Kanja (born in. 1951), which we will present in the exhibition, have an incredible number of Followers and many Likes, and often also by young people. Maybe respect for the age expresses itself today through a lot of Likes, clicks and Followers.

Who do you want to reach with your exhibit?

Quite simply, all. Every fourth child born today in Germany, about 100 years old, so the prognosis is, anyway. As a society, we should take this scenario and prepare, not only socially and politically, but also culturally and in the relationship of the generations to each other. For this reason, this exhibition is intended really for all. We also have topics such as Instagram, or the fairy-tale grandmother Helga, who reads every Friday evening at 20 o’clock on YouTube fairy tales and over 200,000 Followers and eight million clicks. Such things are also quite interesting for young people.

The ethnologist Alice Pawlik, aging is responsible for the exhibition around the theme. As a Curator of Visual anthropology, she is head of the imaging Department, Film and media of the world cultures Museum.

The exhibition, “Grey is the new pink” runs from 26.10.2018 to 01.09.2019.

The interview was conducted by Sabine Peschel.

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