Exhibited in

Pestalozzi-Froebelhaus, Berlin, 2008

Amsterdam Centrum voor Fotografie: Work in Progess: The Vision 2009

This installation is a part of my project "First School Day" in 2008, which also consisted of a "Zuckertütenfest" for 2000 children, the book "Erster SchulGang: eine Metamorphose", a photo exhibition in Berlin, and the website www.zuckertuetenfest.com.

 

In the installation "Pestalotzzi" images from two worlds are placed together: the dream world of our childhood, and a moment of transition for discovery and acceptance of society's rules and regulations, in the process of forming the child's own identity. It depicts the tension between freedom and rules, between the self and other, in the metamorphosis to unity, in which much is gained but also mush is lost.

 

This project is based on a tradition that started in Thüringen (Germany), call the "Zuckertütefest", and presently called "Schultütefest". It is known that in 1817, a father gave to his child on his first schoolday a present of a paper cone, filled with cookies and candy (Zuckertüte). This was to soothe and sweeten his child's transition from toddler to schoolchild. Over the years this has changed into a cardboard horn filled with school supplies, toys, and healthy candy (Schultüte), and has become a party that are celebrated in most homes and schools in Germany.

 

The title "Pestalozzi" is dedicated to the Pestalozzi-Froebel-Haus, a Berlin school for maladjusted young people. The school has supported me in creating of this project. Johann Pestalozzi (1746-1827) is a pioneer in the pedagogy "elementary" method. His thesis was "learning through doing": teaching from the love for humanity, with the aim of increasing the quality of life and the development potential of people.