In December, Winfried Muthesius held a workshop for young artists at the Faculty of Design of the University of Würzburg. It was the start of the pics4peace campaign, which aims to motivate young people aged between 16 and 26 to have creative input on the theme of peace and democracy, and to campaign against radicalism, populism, antisemitism and other forms of marginalisation of people in our country. The city of Würzburg is sponsor of the project in 2017/2018. It will then go on to other municipalities so as to reach as many people as possible, thereby strengthening democracy in freedom.
The multi-layering of the pittura oscura is ideal for tackling history, the challenges of the present and possible outlooks for the future, and for condensing the whole into a single work.
The historical reference point is the Habima scandal of 1930. It was the largest and most brutal antisemitic riot in Würzburg prior to 1933; that is, at a time when a freely and democratically elected government was still in power. The scene was the Municipal Theatre, where the Russian “Habima” theatre group was performing a Jewish play called “Der Dibbuk”. Around 1,000 attendees were beaten, injured, pursued and put in fear of their lives.