#SalonEurope: analog meets digital Networking then and now – Europe means to me …?

In 2018, the Museum Burg Posterstein presented the participative exhibition #SalonEuropa.

Exhibition banners and in the middle a bust of Dorothea o Courland
Starting with the idea of historicals salons around 1800, the project #SalonEuropa wanted to take this idea into the present.

The exhibition “#SalonEurope: analog meets digital” was designed as a laboratory. Based on the historic salon culture around 1800, the exhibition created a relation to the present time and current political situation. As the poet Jean Paul acknowledged, everyone in the salon of the Duchess of Courland was free to express his opinion as long as it was presented in a courteous manner. Similarly, visitors of the #SalonEuropa Laboratory had the opportunity to express their thoughts on Europe today, both in analog and digital form. A screen in the exhibition and this website displayed different opinions on Europe in videos, commentaries and blog posts.

Exhibition with pictures on the walls and a big video screen with interviews
The exhibition #SalonEuropa showed opinions about Europe from the past and the present.

The historical background for the exhibition was one of the museum’s favorite research subjects: Between 1795 and 1821 there was a living salon in Löbichau Castle near Posterstein. It attracted artists, writers and politicians, noblemen as well as commoners, from all over Europe. The hostess, the duchess Anna Dorothea of Kurland (1761–1821), was one of the richest women in Europe. She cleverly managed to establish a social network that spread throughout the European continent.

Blick in die Ausstellung #SalonEuropa 2018 auf Burg Posterstein
The exhibition #SalonEuropa connected opinions on Europe from present and past. On the right: The art work “Europe” by the Danish artist Pernille Egeskov.

All summaries of the project are in German only:

What does Europe mean to you?

„Es fehlt eine europäische Öffentlichkeit“ – Auswertung #SalonEuropa 1: Der Salonabend
„Mehr als nur Geografie“ – Auswertung #SalonEuropa 2: Die Kommentare
Europa bedeutet noch immer eine große Chance – Auswertung #SalonEuropa 3: Die Video-Beiträge
„Diese Pluralität der Perspektiven ist Europa“ – Auswertung #SalonEuropa 4: Die Blogparade
Fragiles Europa – Pernille Egeskovs Kunstwerk “Europa” als Beitrag zu #SalonEuropa
Ein Jahr im Zeichen Europas geht zu Ende: Auswertung #SalonEuropa 5

A project by Museum Burg Posterstein.

Read more about the project here and here.

The exhibition was supported by:

The exhibition was under the patronage of Dr. Ing. Babette Winter, that times State Secretary for Culture and Europe in the Thuringian State Chancellery.