Pants Wear Skirts: The Erfurt Women Artist's Group 1984-1994

A Mosaic of Femininity

Founded in 1984 by women around Gabriele Stötzer, the Erfurt Women Artists’ Group pursued a radically creative lifestyle to counter the rigid structures of everyday life in the GDR, over a period of ten years. Subversive, witty, borne of a liberating sense of defiance against normative gender roles, their artistic expressions provide an insight into the little-known feminist subculture in the GDR. Their pioneering role in terms of an exploration of female identity is particularly reflected through five experimental Super 8 films, subsequent live performances, and fashion-object shows. Often unfolding intuitively from sequences of audio, dance, and literary elements, self-created and provocative costumes that served as alter egos of the artists took center stage. Their political commitment culminated in December 1989 in the first occupation of a Stasi, State Security Service, headquarters, initiated by five women, three of whom were part of the group.

The Erfurt Women Artists’ Group remained active with personnel changes — Monika Andres, Tely Büchner, Elke Carl, Monique Förster, Gabriele Göbel, Ina Heyner, Verena Kyselka, Claudia Morca Bogenhardt, Bettina Neumann, Ingrid Plöttner, Marlies Schmidt, Gabriele Stötzer, Harriet Wollert and others — until 1994.