Das Denkmal
YEAR
2017
LOCATION
Vaduz
COLLABORATION
Anna Hilti, Toni Büchel
INSTITUTION
Kunstraum Engländerbau
Das Denkmal (The Monument) is a project exploring the creation of a monument dedicated to the history of emigration from Liechtenstein. Not long ago, hundreds of people left an impoverished Liechtenstein—most of them bound for the United States—in search of better living conditions.
The project was part of the exhibition "Komplizen", curated by Melanie Büchel and Eugen Fulterer. As a first step, we conducted a comprehensive survey of existing monuments across Liechtenstein. These were systematically documented, analysed, and assembled into a curated collection that formed the basis of an exhibition.
The programme was complemented by public debates on the relevance and possible forms of monuments today, as well as workshops in which participants were invited to collectively conceive a monument addressing this largely forgotten chapter of Liechtenstein’s history.
The exhibition architecture drew inspiration from the middle deck of transatlantic ships—an intermediate space that many emigrants from Liechtenstein passed through on their journeys to the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
