„East German Elite Athletes on the Run”

Between the years 1949 and 1989 more than three million people left the German Democratic Republic, many of them illegally and under dangerous circumstances. Sports, an area which had prominent model character for the SED regime, was seriously affected by the phenomenon of escaping. Hundreds of top athletes turned their backs on Eastern Germany, looking for greener pastures in the ideologically defamed west, a step that turned them into „traitors” in the eyes of the political leadership.

This exhibition presents the fates of 15 selected athletes, who have escaped, their bodies and faces are captured in the moment of remembering. The video installation of the artist Laura Soria creates a room for reflection, which enables the visitor to contact a silent interlocutor, to explore, to ask questions, and to set the narrative in motion by pressing a button. This is the moment, the personalities are made alive: their voices tell a story, reveal, confess, and confide.