Ruth Erdt: K12 – Schwamendingen / Kunsthalle Zürich
Schwamendingen, a northern suburb of Zürich incorporated in 1934 and known as District 12 or K12, is the focus of Swiss artist Ruth Erdt's photographic exploration. Initially foreign to Erdt when she moved there in the early 1990s, she captured the essence of this 'beyond the city' place through her lens. Her work, featuring themes like gardens, forests, and the local Chilbi fair, evolved as she documented the transformation of Schwamendingen from a marginalized area to one of pride, especially among its youth. Collaborating with Zürich's art initiatives since 2012, Erdt expanded her project, engaging in dialogues about gentrification and identity. Her exhibition, "K12 Schwamendingen," showcases over 5,000 of her 60,000 photographs, exploring the district through various photographic mediums. This project also highlights the community's fight for environmental improvements like the motorway enclosure, turning Schwamendingen into a study of ordinary life interwoven with dramatic changes. In this video we attend the opening reception of the exhibition and speak with Ruth Erdt about her project and her current exhibition at Kunsthalle Zürich. The exhibition runs until January 19, 2025.
Ruth Erdt: K12 – Schwamendingen / Kunsthalle Zürich. Vernissage, September 27, 2024.
Ruth Erdt: K12 – Schwamendingen / Kunsthalle Zürich. Vernissage, September 27, 2024.
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00:30Schwamendingen is a kind of code, is a brand, is known far beyond Schwamendingen,
00:42even beyond the Swiss borders.
00:45It is a city border, a district, a little bit of screaming,
00:52and the city of Zurich is the ugly end or the truth.
00:59That is now changing through various structural measures
01:04and relatively large-scale conversions.
01:09And the motorway housing, which actually houses the motorway
01:17due to noise protection, somehow increases the quality of living.
01:26And that is really the case.
01:28The quality of living is increasing, the view is increasing.
01:31This is an exciting moment for Schwamendingen.
01:56I have been photographing since I was 17, 18, when I was in the graphic class.
02:08That was a different time.
02:11Not many people had a camera, so photographing was expensive.
02:16And I started photographing my environment at that time,
02:20also the social environment, the people I live with,
02:23the friends, but also strangers.
02:26That has actually been part of my work for 45 years.
02:31And then I did that in Schwamendingen.
02:35But I always tried to make it look like it wasn't so accessible,
02:41both in terms of time and location.
02:47And you have to know, as a young mother, when I moved to Schwamendingen with two small children,
02:54there were still these open spaces.
02:58There is more and more space on the city side and there are more opportunities.
03:03And we thought it was great, we had a garden, but the reputation was really relatively bad.
03:12Our friends asked us, or me, what are you doing there?
03:17Why are you moving there?
03:19There was nothing you could go to.
03:21I know that I used to walk to the exit, to the so-called city,
03:30no, with a tram, and then sometimes I walked back for an hour
03:35before I discovered the bike.
03:38The reputation was different.
03:41And maybe that's why I didn't want to make it so accessible.
03:47It was also because of my situation, a small circle.
03:51I didn't have much freedom because of my family situation
03:55and photographed in a small circle,
03:58which I could then expand further the more free I became, let's say.
04:06And then I was fascinated that the young people discovered it for themselves,
04:12this Schwamendingen, this outskirts.
04:15They took it as strength.
04:18They identified with it.
04:21We are different.
04:23They called themselves K12 and they really pushed it.
04:31We are behind the mountain, right?
04:34We are behind the Zürichberg.
04:36We are the others.
04:38And then I started to photograph more locally,
04:41so that it is more accessible.
05:05Of course, if you have been photographing for so long,
05:09let's say I've been photographing there for 35 years,
05:14then the work, the photography, also changes.
05:21And the look, I always had a relatively, let's say,
05:28loving look at Schwamendingen,
05:31because I liked the outskirts,
05:34I could also identify with it.
05:37And I was not delivered with these perhaps stricter codes,
05:42codes or laws, systems of the city center.
05:47So you could do what you,
05:49what you just ignored, what you wanted.
05:53You could somehow make a fire at night
05:56or go into the forest or invite friends.
05:59And you could grill, you could get up late,
06:02you couldn't wash your laundry,
06:04you couldn't get the mail out.
06:06It didn't matter.
06:08You could shop with the trainer.
06:10Nobody said anything.
06:12Everyone was busy with themselves,
06:14but there was still a strong, strong social feeling there.
06:19And the work, when I photograph,
06:23it's not, of course, it's also an observing look,
06:28but I'm always part of it.
06:30That means I'm a social person who photographs.
06:34I'm not an outsider, I'm not an ethnologist,
06:37but I'm emotionally connected.
06:40And I think that also shapes my look.
06:43I have respect for the people,
06:45I have respect for the place.
06:47And maybe that's what I'm trying to convey
06:50in these, in my works.
06:52It was like this that from 2012 I was supported
06:56by the city of Zurich for this work.
06:59And I was asked to do a kind of art observation
07:03and mediation.
07:05And I was asked to do a kind of art observation
07:09and mediation.
07:11And I was asked to do a kind of art observation
07:15and mediation.
07:17And then I decided that I would actually expand
07:21this series even more and, based on this series,
07:25build up a kind of communication with the neighborhood residents
07:30about art, about location, about housing,
07:34about solidarity, about very different topics.
07:38And that was actually a very nice job,
07:42because I also networked a lot of people.
07:45I was able to build something up with the people,
07:50a kind of cultural building up,
07:54to create a connection,
07:57to create a presence with the neighbors,
08:00with other people.
08:02There was a group that then also
08:05moved to Zurich.
08:07And that was really an important development at the time,
08:11that you also had something in Schwarmendingen
08:14and that you could continue to build up there.
08:17There was really a great quality,
08:20a new great quality in the neighborhood.
08:23An offer, let's say,
08:25where you could participate in it or not.
08:28In this respect, this work is also really very socially
08:32important, not just in the photos,
08:35but it goes on in the actions of neighborhood residents.
08:40And I also bear a responsibility,
08:43because the people I photograph,
08:46they know where I live.
08:49I am still, yes, I bear the responsibility
08:54for these photos, for these, yes,
08:59neighborly or neighborhood-like encounters.
09:06That means you always maintain these contacts.
09:11You maintain, that's how it is,
09:13you have to, that's really close,
09:15that's kind of work too, a beautiful work.
09:18But it takes, it takes time and it's also intense.
09:22You grow further with a neighborhood
09:25or with different people from the neighborhood.
09:30And if you do such a work of art,
09:35I think you have to stay relevant and accountable.
09:40So you can't say, yes, I don't feel like it anymore.
09:44No, even the people who come today,
09:47I asked them, is it okay if I exhibit the picture here?
09:52And especially with young people,
09:55it is very important that they feel comfortable.
09:58And if something is not right,
10:00or if a situation changes for the people,
10:03then I am also a person of contact.
10:05So I'm there, and that's why it's a relatively intense work.
10:22The Kunsthalle Zürich
10:38The Kunsthalle Zürich, Daniel Baumann, the curator and director,
10:42invited me and I think it's great of him
10:46that I can show this here.
10:49He saw the potential.
10:52And we had a very exciting dialogue.
10:58I work from a huge archive.
11:01You have to imagine, let's say, 15 years of pictures.
11:05That's about 50,000, 60,000 pictures.
11:09And then the selection comes.
11:11And the selection can actually take years.
11:15That means you have to choose again and again.
11:22You have to look at every picture, you have to put them together.
11:25That's a lot of work.
11:27Most of the time you're not even aware of it.
11:30That means I actually made a pre-selection
11:34and then discussed it with Daniel Baumann
11:40how we could approach it.
11:43One part we wanted to frame.
11:45One part were the curtains,
11:47which bring in something tactile again,
11:51a different way of looking.
11:55Maybe also a game with the pictures,
11:58with the display options,
12:01because the curtain is still transparent.
12:03Then the posters were added.
12:06And I actually like to mix these pictures.
12:11I also find it interesting,
12:13when you come from photography,
12:15this is actually my first big exhibition
12:18where I show digital pictures.
12:24I used to work very analogously.
12:26This is really digital now,
12:28and then you have to ...
12:30You can actually do everything with the digital.
12:33That's why it makes sense to show it on different carriers,
12:36on different media.
12:38We show the screens,
12:40we show the posters,
12:42we show the curtains,
12:44we show curtains.
12:46Finding the right combination
12:48was enormously exciting.
12:50I did that in dialogue with Daniel Baumann.
12:54We had a good thread together,
12:57similar views.
12:59Or when I couldn't go any further,
13:02he had a good idea.
13:05On the other hand, he knew,
13:07I know the pictures,
13:09I'm good at these combinations.
13:11It was a very nice process
13:15until the end.
13:36There is still a book.
13:38We don't know
13:40if it will come to the Vernissage.
13:43Maybe.
13:45There are still a few copies coming.
13:47Urs Steul asked me in 2020
13:51if we were going to do a publication
13:54at the Steidl Verlag.
13:56We had thought for a long time
13:58that we would do a publication
14:00at the Steidl Verlag.
14:02We had thought for a long time
14:04that we would do a publication
14:06at the Steidl Verlag.
14:08But the book is actually coming
14:10to the exhibition.
14:12I made this selection first.
14:14The book is immensely thick.
14:16It has 900 pages.
14:18It has over 600 pictures.
14:20We wanted to make a big book.
14:22Steidl almost killed it at first.
14:26They call it the monstrum in the Verlag.
14:31But that was actually the first work.
14:35The book was first.
14:39But both are equally important projects.
14:45The book and the exhibition.
14:47And of course it is also in dialogue.
14:50As with the book.
14:52You have your favorites
14:54and in the end you have to take them out.
14:56You can't show everything.
14:58I would have preferred to have
15:00just done the history books.
15:02That's a very hard process.
15:04But I think if the book is there,
15:06there will be a new level
15:08where you can see the exhibition.
15:11You can also take something home
15:13from Schwamendingen.
15:15And above all, I think it's great
15:17that those who don't know Schwamendingen
15:19and who may have been a little confused
15:21why should I go to Schwamendingen,
15:23can now come here to the Kunsthalle
15:25and look at it.
15:28That's very bold, isn't it?
15:30And I think it's a wonderful process
15:35that you can now look at the city,
15:37the outskirts of the city.
15:39And I'm really happy with this place
15:43and with Daniel Baumann
15:45that he did it with me.
15:57I would like to thank all the people,
16:00my team, and above all
16:02the many people who have helped me
16:05to get to where I am today.
16:08Thank you very much.
16:27Many people I photographed,
16:29I couldn't ask all of them.
16:32And without all these people,
16:35this work wouldn't be the way it is.
16:38Then it wouldn't have become what it is.
16:41So without my help,
16:43but also without the people
16:45who participated,
16:47who took pictures,
16:49or the people I met on the street.
16:52I couldn't always ask all the addresses.
16:55And I didn't know at the time
16:57how the work was developing.
16:59They all participated.
17:01They were all so uncomplicated.
17:03Whether in the bathhouse
17:05or on the Chilbi,
17:07as we say, Schwamendinger Chilbi.
17:10I would like to say a big, big thank you
17:13to all the Schwamendingers
17:15who are represented here somewhere.
17:25Thank you very much.
17:55Thank you very much.
18:25Thank you very much.