Fotoalbum met foto's van Isabel Wachenheimer met haar ouders Eugen Wachenheimer en Else Wachenheimer-Moos en haar grootouders Meir Wachenheimer en Mathilde Wachenheimer-Moos, 1932-1937, Stuttgart c. 1932 - 1937

Editor: Here we have a photo album cover, created sometime between 1932 and 1937 in Stuttgart by the Wachenheimer family. It’s a mixed-media collage of paper and coloured pencil, and I'm struck by the bright circle of colours against the faded background. What’s your perspective on this piece? Curator: I find the materiality of this album particularly compelling. Consider the cheap paper, the simple collage technique. In a time of growing economic hardship and political instability for Jewish families in Germany, these modest materials speak volumes about resourcefulness and perhaps even quiet resistance. What do you make of the album’s physical form? Editor: It feels intimate and personal, like a handmade gift. Almost deliberately "un-precious" in its materials. Curator: Exactly. Think about the labour involved in carefully tearing or cutting each scrap of coloured paper, meticulously arranging them to form this unbroken circle. It transforms what might have been discarded into something meaningful. This wasn't mass-produced; it was crafted, conveying value in the handwork. Does it shift how we understand artistic skill? Editor: It makes me consider "craft" and "art" in a different light. We usually view artistry at a higher level than something like craft, when they're both based in skill, intent, and even storytelling. Curator: Indeed. And who decides those categories, and why? It prompts us to rethink traditional art historical hierarchies. By examining the materials and methods of creation, we unearth powerful narratives about daily life, social conditions, and the very act of making meaning. Editor: That gives me a new appreciation for this album cover. It’s more than just a decorative object; it’s a document of lived experience. Curator: Precisely. By looking at art through the lens of material culture, we can decode the messages embedded within the objects themselves, uncovering hidden histories and untold stories.