For Berlin’s art scene, 2025 became a critical year in confronting colonial legacies and decoding the grey areas of art history. One of the most discussed stops in this process was the Brücke Museum in Dahlem, where the exhibition “Between Berlin and Cape Town” placed viewers right in the midst of an ethical dilemma by examining the complex legacy of South African-German artist Irma Stern. A paradoxical figure, Stern was subjected to antisemitism and censorship by the National Socialists due to her Jewish identity, yet while escaping oppression on one hand, she carried the colonial and racial prejudices of her era onto her canvases on the other.
Modernism’s Colonial Lens and Neo-Expressionist Gaze
Although Stern’s artistic practice is described as a Neo-Expressionist example shaped around the Brücke movement, the exhibition deciphers the problematic ideology behind this aesthetic success. Her portraits of Black women from South Africa, Congo, and Rwanda are technically admirable, yet they contain a disturbing ethnographic objectification. For instance, in a 1943 work, despite knowing the name of Queen Gicanda Rudahigwa, Stern titled the piece “Watussi Queen,” suggesting that she viewed her subjects less as individuals and more as “types” or specimens of “authenticity.” The substantial financial gains Stern derived from these “exotic” depictions, and her rise to become one of postwar South Africa’s most successful artists, make it impossible to read her artistic achievement independently of the cultural ground of the Apartheid regime.
Curatorial Intervention: Art as a Contemporary Response
In constructing this challenging exhibition, the Brücke Museum did not merely present Stern’s works; it created an academic dialogue by incorporating interventions from contemporary queer Black artists such as Athi-Patra Ruga to break the colonial gaze. Ruga’s works and the texts on the exhibition walls re-interrogate Stern’s self-definition as “progressive” (because she chose to paint African subjects) from today’s perspective. This approach reveals that the famous expressionless and “empty” gazes in Stern’s figures are not merely aesthetic choices but silent witnesses and artefacts of the Apartheid era.
An Individual Resistance: “Maid in Uniform”
One of the most poignant points of the review is the 1955 painting “Maid in Uniform,” which represents the pinnacle of Stern’s relationship with her subjects. The woman in the painting averting her gaze from the artist serves as visual evidence that Stern approached her subject merely for artistic satisfaction and profit. This profound dichotomy—between the exile and discrimination Stern experienced due to her Jewish identity and the superior attitude she displayed while painting Black women—forms the core element that makes the exhibition both challenging and fascinating. Ultimately, by reminding us that art is not only a visual feast but also a struggle over power and representation, the exhibition etched itself into memory as one of 2025’s most unforgettable artistic confrontations.
