Δ Kick it!

Is society reflected in the game of football? And what does fair play actually mean? These are two of the questions investigated by the exhibition “Kick it. International Photography!”. On the occasion of the Football World Cup Championship 2006, the Museum der Weltkulturen will be exhibiting aspects of the diversity but also global similarities of football by means of twenty five photographs taken from twelve countries.

The pictures will be presented in five categories in which social and historical themes will be examined: “cult places”, “idols”, “Fans”, “Fair Play” and “The Cult Object”. In “Cult Places” the question will be pursued concerning to the extent to which football has religious characteristics and the transformation of the stadium into a multi-functional arena that reflects social structures.

The theme “Fair Play”, emerging as a theme in current affairs as a consequence of increased racist scandals, shows particularly from an historical perspective what influence social changes have had on the body of rules and behaviour on the field. The same goes for the “Fans”: The emergence of fan clubs and VIP loges is a consequence of the changing social standing of the sport and the spread of television beginning in the 1950’s and 60’s. Even the “Cult Object” has a social significance: On the one hand, the reports in the 1990’s about child labour used in the manufacturing of footballs while, on the other, the football as a symbol of hope for children who seek distraction from their sorrows by means of footballs made of banana peels – or who dream of professional careers in football.

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Δ Skin Marks – Body Pictures

The exhibition “Skin Marks – Body Pictures”, on display in the main building of the museum from the 29th April, 2006 to September, 2007 shows the human skin as a projection surface for artistic design. Over the last thirty or so years, a renewed general interest in body styling can be determined among the various cultures of the West.

Body modifications comprise a whole range of practices to which belong branding, scarification, implantation, deformations of the skull, the foot binding, beauty operations and body painting. With the discovery of the body as a bearer of sign languages signifying existential orientation and individuality, body interventions have recently experienced renewed acceptance. Especially among the various groupings within youth culture, piercing and tattooing can be expressions of personality but also of group membership. In this connection, recourse to “tribal” models of non-European cultures is especially popular, even though their social and cultural contexts have, for the most part, not been assimilated by such groups.

The exhibition displays examples of tattoos, decorative scarification and body painting from the oceans of Asia, Africa, South America and Europe. The exhibition seeks to describe these in their respective mythological, religious and social contexts. The exhibits, the majority of which are drawn from collections belonging to various Frankfurt museums, are supplemented by an extraordinary range of photographic material.

Five additional museums in the Rhine-Main region, each with their own exhibitions and programmes relating to this thematic complex, will participate at alternating times at both local and regional levels.

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