The idea for this exhibition space in the Museum of Lies in Radebeul was a result of critique on the state of the art concerning GDR artwork and its display in German museums. The aim of the exhibition is to showcase the rich collection and aesthetic language of its pieces, focusing on the artwork of GDR subcultures and avant-garde artists, but it also includes more iconoclastic installations that address the peaceful revolution.
The exhibition space displays objects and installations that were banned by the GDR regime. The room includes a great number of artworks created by Zabka before 1989. Objects displayed in the Interieur Underground room vary from installations to punk music, to self-printed postcards, to photography. The exhibition space should be understood along the narrative of the catalogue which includes stories of various GDR artists accompanied by visual material such as Stasi documentation, photography capturing the first graffiti on the eastern side of the Berlin Wall in 1989, among others. Topics covered include unconventional ideas about democratic movements, subcultures and underground activities in the GDR, and obviously censorship. The exhibition space can be seen as a historical overview of peripheral artists within an obsolete political system. The visitor has the opportunity to explore political change and upheavals with the help of the artist’s autobiographical objects.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue, supported by the Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship and the Saxon Regional Representative for the Stasi Archives, which captures personal stories from the GDR artists, narrated with the help of personal objects. In addition, ten artistic posters were created for the exhibition room.
Zabka, Reinhard. 'Interieur Underground. Kunst der Subkultur in der DDR der 1980er Jahre', DDR Geschichte im Museum- neue Themen, neue Ansätze, edited by Museumsblätter. Mitteillungen des Museumsverbandes Brandenburg, 2017:52-60.