No vale de Colono -
Im Siedlertal
Glow sculpture, LED panel
2022
Commissioned for A Casa é Sua: Migração e hos(ti)pitalidade fora do lugar
Siedlertal is an installation made of five glow sculptures depicting potatoes, red cabbage and roasted duck. Whilst the glow sculptures are changing their color from warm to unsettling tones the LED panel in the background is playing the following text: In 2018 during his campaign the candidate to the presidency visited a German restaurant in the State of Santa Catarina and ordered roasted duck, red cabbage and apple compote. On october 28th 75,92 % voted in favor of the candidate in the state of Santa Catarina. Santa Catarina has the largest population of german descent in Brazil.
Siedlertal is the name of a restaurant serving German cuisine in Pomerode, Brazil. During his campaign tour, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro visited the restaurant in the small town marked by German immigrants for dinner and ordered duck with red cabbage and potatoes. Pomerode, the city with the largest ethnic German population in Brazil is also one of the electoral districts with great enthusiasm for the presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro - over 87 percent voted on 28 October 2018 for the right-wing conservative candidate.
Starting from German emigration in the 19th century, about 220,000 Germans went to Brazil between 1824 and 1945, and according to various sources, about 10 percent of the Brazilian population has German ancestors. Initially invited by white elites of the country to counter the Afro-Brazilian imprint of the country and settle in indigenous areas, German immigrants were soon criticized by the Brazilian public for their lack of integration and ethnic ghettoization. The very same criticism with which many people in Germany have been confronted in particular since 2015 people with an Arab migrant background. Ironically, the unwillingness to learn and use the local language plays a central role in the argument against the migrant in both cases. And at the same time, as usual the guests bring their food to both countries, to Brazil and Germany respectively, open restaurants with typical German or Arabic cuisine, and in turn start to host the host.
Slideshow: A Casa é sua, Trip Advisor