On January 18, 2025, another section within the REINVENTING.GRASSI.SKD program opened. In Schutz/ Protection, the museum establishes a space dedicated to this global and increasingly urgent topic.
Protection from wars, pandemics, or climate disasters is at the center of international debates today: Who provides protection? Who needs it? How much are we willing to give to protect others? Museums are places of protection and are therefore particularly suited to offering a sensitive and continually evolving space for this topic. The starting point of the presentation is the henna-painted textiles of women from the Feija Valley in southeastern Morocco. Their motifs serve as protective symbols in special life situations, bringing blessings and shielding against evil spirits.
The textiles were collected by Annette Korolnik and donated to the museum. As a unifying element between cultures, protection is not only found in the henna paintings of Morocco. These henna textiles are presented alongside collection objects from the GRASSI Museum of Ethnography in Leipzig from other regions of the world. The connections between these global and local perspectives offer insights into the complex meanings of protection.
We thank the Fritz Henkel Foundation for their support.
