Searching for Innere Emigranten is a collaborative media art project pairing rappers with immigrant background to the contested history of "Inner Emigration” -a term used by artists that stayed inside the country during the Nazi Era - in order to produce rap songs while questioning the role of artists under fascism.
There will be 4 Masterclass (Virtual, in English) so we can learn together about this topic from different experts starting end of September 2026.
The project is supported by Ministry of Culture and Science of Nordrhein Westfahlen.
Antimonument X – 2026
Wie gehen wi heute mit NS-Kunst im öffentlichen Raum um?
How do we deal with Nazi-era artworks in public spaces?
Location: Eingang Aquazoo
Date&Time: July 11th 2026 – 12:00~16:30
Collaboration with HHU, HHU Bŭrger Universität, HSD
Filmproject: “Pilgrimage”
In collaboration with Atopus Studio UG and Hochschule Düsseldorf VS/VR lab, we helped work on Shinpei Takeda’s feature film “Pilgrimage.” We created a unique way of portraying the recent ground zeros – such as Hanau of 2020, Düsseldorf-Wehrhan of 2000, where the recent racist-motivated attacks took place. The combination of markerless motion capture system, and game engine was used to create a Mixed Reality environment, where part of it is real, and part virtual. This has resulted in various creative approach to create works about sensitive issues right at its center. Below is a behind-the-scene footage of how the motion capture, and face capture was used to portray the actors going through the city of Hanau from first site of killing to the next site.
Antimonument Extended 2024
In 2024, we have expanded the Antimonument Extended project from 2023 by adding two more sculptures – “Aurora” by Arno Breker and “Heinrich Heine” by Georg Kolbe, both of them are in Ehrenhof (Kunstpalast / NRW Forum) of Düsseldorf. The workshop was held in June 22, and the result was shown as part of Die Grosse 2024.
Antimonument Extended
Opening of the “Manufacturing Antimonument” exhibition
The “Antimonument Extended” is a tool for deconstructing histories represented behind the public monuments in a non-violent and democratic way.
Monument has always been target of people’s sentiments against authority and history. However in the past 5 years, increased number of images of monuments and statues are being toppled, vandalized and damaged flooded our world. The act of deconstructing the monuments, across the globe, has become a tactic and as well as an universally understood grammar of questioning the histories. The project aims to develop an open source VR software in collaboration with scholars, artists, and activists to engage public in deconstructing the monuments – not physically but in virtual reality and in mixed reality.
The player (or audience) using their Virtual Reality headset can enter the game and is transported to the selected controversial statues and monuments in Germany but also around the world. The player is virtually placed right in front of the monument of real-life scale, then the player is met by the avatar guide who gives summarized information about the creator, sponsors and the background of the monument. Then the player is given different sets of tools for action – to intervene the monument. The choices would vary depending on each monuments, but it will provide different rituals and tactics used to express our feelings toward the monuments, and eventually towards what these monuments represent.
The project is supported by Kunstfonds, Kunstkommission Düsseldorf and Culture Department of Düsseldorf, and will premier in summer of 2023.
Antimonument Research
Antimonument Research Collective consisted of Mariko Mikami(Curator& Producer based in Düsseldorf&Tokyo), Maika Nakao (Scholar on history of nuclear science, based in Hiroshima), Shuhei Matsukubo (Curator, Nagasaki Art Museum) and Shinpei Takeda. After a year of monthly colloquium with different artists and writers, we wrote an essay booklet “Antimonument Research” Vol.1. (Please click here to download the English Japanese Bilingual 112 page PDF booklet) and presented it at Nagasaki Art Museum in January of 2023.
Krems-Stein
#ThisHasAlreadyHappened
My sister rubbed oil on my scar for me. She would mix my mother’s ashes with the oil so that the oil would not drip off. Minoru Sumida, 11 years old at Hiroshima August 6th 1945
I saw people whose arm skins had peeled off and was hanging from their fingernails
-Minoru Sumida, 11 years old at Hiroshima August 6th 1945
Limit of Your Safe Space
Multi-user collaboration in Virtal Reality as a possible methodology to explore autonomous virtual spaces as a place for collective dialogue and production. *Collaboration with VS/VR lab of Hochschule Düsseldorf.
Teaser for the project “Limit of your safe space” – to take place in Oceanside Museum of Art
Underground Zero AR
Underground Zero AR ( *open with your smartphone to experience the AR) is an experiment which utilizes the Augmented Reality as an imaginary form to understand what could be under the ground zero of historical incidents. By using Web-based Augmented Reality(Web XR), bypassing an app, as well as simple animation and music, we have come up with a way to create an AR experience that one can also go inside. Collaboration partner: VS/VR Lab of Hochschule Düsseldorf
Searching for Innere Emigranten is a collaborative media art project pairing rappers with immigrant background to the contested history of "Inner Emigration” -a term used by artists that stayed inside the country during the Nazi Era - in order to produce rap songs while questioning the role of artists under fascism.
