CTRL Z / CTRL Y
Team WissensSpuren and Sven Bergelt (HGB Leipzig)
A cooperation of the WissensSpuren with the class for Artistic Action and Research at the Academy of Fine Arts (HGB) Leipzig and the German Museum of Books and Writing (DBSM) at the German National Library (DNB).
Artists: Qutiba Alchalabi, Tobias Bertz, Diren Demir, Inga Kruse, Tobias Kurpat, Tina Metschke, Alaina Nugnis, Daisam Othman, Barbora Svobodová
supervised by Sven Bergelt
Leaflet: Jule Oberg, Jan Gabriel
In the context of the “Tag des Vergessens. Und des Erinnerns.” the class for Artistic Action and Research at the HGB Leipzig contributes an artistic intervention to the exhibition Forget it?! in the the DBSM.
“CTRL Z / CTRL Y” will be on display from November 8 to 16, 2025.
Contributions of Tina Metschke: Jeden Tag Leben, Alaina Nugnis: 18:36 Uhr and Diren Demir: Speak to the Water. Photos: DNB / Christine Hartmann.
The intervention makes use of research-based, site-specific, speculative, and power-critical working methods. They revisit processes of remembering and forgetting from different perspectives, and they establish references to thematic focal points of the permanent exhibition, like de/industrialization, hegemonic representation of history, forms of censorship, or loss and preservation of knowledge.
Contributions of Barbora Svobodová: The Unseen (links) and Tobias Kurpat: Die Provenienz der Fiktion (mitte, rechts). Photos: DNB / Christine Hartmann (left, center) and Sven Bergelt (right).
The titel CTRL Z / CTRL Y alludes to the keyboard shortcuts “Undo” and “Recover,” that are used to in the digital realm of recover deleted items. In the vague zone between these two commands, a decision is made as to what will be retrieved or deleted forever. In this space for reflection, the artistic works illuminate the ambivalence between forgetting and remembering.
Contributions of Inga Kruse: 273 Prozessarbeit and the exhibition leaflet by Jule Oberg. Photos: Sven Bergelt (left) and DNB / Christine Hartmann (right).
The leaflet was designed by Jule Oberg, based on the font Polymer designed at the HGB Leipzig by Jan Gabriel.
The class Artistic Action and Research at the HGB Leipzig is directed by Prof. Christin Lahr (🇩🇪) and Sven Bergelt (🇩🇪).
| Exhibition period | November 08–16, 2025 | |
| Opening hours | Tuesday till Sunday 10am – 6pm | |
| Thursday 10am – 8pm | ||
| closed on Montag | ||
| Venue | German Museum of Books and Writing | |
| of the German National Library | ||
| Deutscher Platz 1 | ||
| 04103 Leipzig |
The exhibition is accessible to all visitors. The entrance is free.