fascho! reports from everyday life
(Neo)Fascism, The "Center" of Society and Swiss Politics. Aesthetics, Identity, Ideology. Resistance!

25 August - 23 September 2007
Opening: 24 August 2007, 19.00

Wednesday - Sunday 14.00 - 20.00, Thursday 14.00 - 21.00
Lectures: Friday 20.00

The german exclamation "fascho!" is an expression of unthinking, emotional, and yet at the same time principled and categorical disapproval of a comment or act. It is used in everyday language to describe a heterogeneous field of social phenomena. With the exhibition fascist! dispatches from everyday life, we seek to intervene in this field. The exhibition fascho! reports from everyday life seeks first to explore fragments of ideologies with a fascist "past" that still come up today in various discourses and debates. Second, it tries to investigate the question of what current ideologies, policies, and practices - whether they aim at the exclusion of particular groups or at pervasive economic exploitation or make use of oversimplifying explanations of the world - could have to do with historical fascism. Even if our "neoliberal" society is not simply "fascist," it nevertheless displays effects that are reminiscent of historical fascisms. Third, the exhibition looks at Neonazi groups and organizations as well as the "right-wing youth scenes."
   

The exhibition is divided into four thematic areas:

1 Identity, Self-Conception
By way of the question "Who am I when I differentiate myself from others?", the exhibition deals with subjects like racism, antisemitism, and homophobia and places like the soccer stadium.
 
2 Aesthetics between "Fringe" and "Center"
Aesthetics and propaganda played a central role in the history of fascism. Indirect references to it may be found in mainstream culture and explicit allusions to it in neofascist groups. We are especially interested in the proliferation of these aesthetics within popular culture.
 
3 Ideologies, Policies, Practices
What function do fragments of fascist thinking have for governing today? The exhibition uses Swiss policy concerning the disabled as an example to thematize current demands in the area of population policy and practices based on those demands.
 
4 Dealing with It, Resisting It
The exhibition examines the way the media, politicians, and the courts deal with the phenomenon of Neonazism. Also depicted, however, are forms of resistance beyond this "official" policy.
The exhibition also includes a fundamentals section with historical information, definitions, and information on the genesis of the exhibition.
 
Thanks to its broadly inclusive approach, the exhibition fascho! reports from everyday life hopes to be an instrument for engaging more deeply with the subjects described above. It is aimed at all interested persons. However, it also specifically seeks to appeal to school classes with guided tours and pedagogical materials.