Love That Crosses Borders
Exhibition in “DASTietz” presented by Chemnitz University’s “Intercultural Partnerships in Chemnitz” Project
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Visitors can view the exhibition in “DASTietz” in downtown Chemnitz from now through July 6, 2018. Photo: Press Office image archive/Sven Gleisberg
As part of the celebrations commemorating “875 Years of Chemnitz,” one special exhibition highlights intercultural relationships in the city. The collection was created as part of a project coordinated by Chemnitz University of Technology: “Intercultural Partnerships in Chemnitz”. After several months of work, students assembled relationship biographies of six intercultural couples of various ages. These were presented for the first time at the opening of the exhibition on June 8, 2018 in “DASTietz” in Chemnitz. Visitors can view the exhibition through July 6, 2018. “We are looking forward to meeting and speaking with visitors who are interested in the exhibition,” says Chemnitz University student Michelle Schenkl. Schenkl, along with eight other fellow students studying Intercultural Communications as a bachelor’s or master’s degree course, helped to design and prepare the exhibition. The collection primarily includes photos and info panels, which help to express the unique romantic relationships of each of the six couples interviewed for the exhibition as well as their connection to the city of Chemnitz.
Despite the predominant view of “intercultural” as pertaining to couples that are of different nationalities, the project team has also considered partnerships that include members of different ethnicities or religious faiths. The team paid particular attention to the couples’ everyday lives, in which they bridge the divide across various cultural, ethnic or religious differences to create a common understanding. “The exhibition shows the diversity embodied in the city of Chemnitz in an accessible way, which is also expressed in the unique love stories of some of its citizens,” explains Michelle Schenkl.
Background: Intercultural Partnerships in Chemnitz
At its heart, the project is focused on the individual consideration of intercultural couples’ relationships in Chemnitz. For the exhibition, the team conducted interviews with numerous intercultural couples whose members belong to different nationalities and ethnicities. The project is coordinated by Dr. Gala Rebane, who holds the Junior Professorship of Intercultural Competence at Chemnitz University.
More information is available from Michelle Schenkl, E-mail: michelle.schenkl@s2016.tu-chemnitz.de.
(Translation: Sarah Wilson)
Matthias Fejes
13.06.2018
