Home Magazine The Essentials: The Photographic Project which thanks Essential Workers

Inaugurated on the 3rd of August, a temporary exhibition greets all those travelling around Munich with photos of the workers whose jobs are essential to our daily lives.

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From the 3rd to the 12th of August 2021, the non-profit foundation The Artist and the Others acknowledges those we often take for granted with an exhibition called ‘The Essentials’ in Munich.

It pays tribute and proudly presents all those people who have guaranteed some normality, basic rights and our well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 

Betül Ayadin, The Essentials, 2021, Courtesy of The Artist and the Others. ©2018 BETÜL AYDIN.

 

‘The Essentials’, curated by Jessica Capra founder of The Artist and the Others, and Mariana Bareuther Sesma, represents the people who have always been in the background, helping us through struggles, and guaranteeing crucial services.

The title is a dignified presentation of the humble people behind the things we take for granted. These are the important individuals that have kept us going, displayed in 60 black and white portraits on the walls of Munich’s underground. 

The important and emblematic works are by German-based photographers Lisa Hörterer and Betül Aydin. They have made the people behind these jobs visible, having a proud place in our daily transit.

 

Betül Ayadin, ‘The Essentials’ installation in Munich, 2021, Courtesy of The Artist and the Others. ©2018 BETÜL AYDIN.

 

On the underground, in the place of advertisements, it is not the service provided which is on display, but the people who make the essential possible: from the Nurses, Carers and Doctors we applauded every week last year, to the Bus Drivers, Firefighters, Postmen, Cashiers, Psychologists, Educators and Teachers who kept our lives running, putting their own lives at risk every single day.

“We want to say thank you” are the words of Mariana Bareuther Sesma. Jessica Capra also marks that “These are the people who ensure our every day, even during the peak of the pandemic.” 

This open and accessible exhibition shows who we were applauding last year - those people we must thank openly.

More than anything else, this project represents an effort to get to know, create dialogue and give voice to all the individuals who are too frequently unheard. It publicly thanks and demonstrates the importance of all these different people. 

Travelling around Munich, we can get to know the untold story which uncovers the richness and diversity of the city. We meet the heroes who make everything possible – The Essentials.

 

Betül Ayadin, ‘The Essentials’ installation in Munich, 2021, Courtesy of The Artist and the Others. ©2018 BETÜL AYDIN.

 

Betül Ayadin, ‘The Essentials’ installation in the Underground at Karlsplatz Stachus in Munich, 2021, Courtesy of The Artist and the Others. ©2018 BETÜL AYDIN.

 

Cover image: Betül Ayadin, ‘The Essentials’ installation in the Underground at Munich Central Station, 2021, Courtesy of The Artist and the Others. ©2018 BETÜL AYDIN

Written by Zoë Rivas Zanello

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