Moderna Museet - HIM

 

*I'd like to acknowledge that art is extremely subjective! The following post is purely my opinion and my feelings about this exhibit, someone else may have had a very different experience.

Today we went to the Moderna Museet which is a modern art museum in Stockholm. There were a ton of crazy, beautiful, interesting, and disturbing exhibits there. I am going to be writing about the exhibit HIM, which I found disturbing in a very bad way. This exhibit is ceiling to floor red. And not a nice, deep red, but a blaring, angry red. Walking in, I immediately became overstimulated. The color was overwhelming and the entire room felt like it was closing in. When you first stand in the entrance of the exhibit, all you see is the back of a young boy kneeling, and then a pop art painting of a finger pointing directly at him. Those are the only two things in this exhibit. However, when I walked around to see his face, I found that his face is that of Hitler. In a little bit of shock, I stared at this figure for a moment. He kneels, head slightly upturned towards the painting, hands clasped in front of him. He looks almost pitiful - almost. The finger in the painting is done in a very American, pop art style, and is reminiscent of U.S. army recruitment posters.

In the spirit of complete honesty, I did not enjoy or like this exhibit in the slightest. As for its importance, I think that it shows how controversial art can be. I can appreciate the fact that it offers interesting commentary on forgiveness and mercy, and the blurb explains that this exhibit allows us to meet the child behind the fear and the hate. However, I can't stop thinking about the sheer amount of hate that was caused. The Holocaust affected so many parts of the world, Sweden included. I think it is unsettling that they have an exhibit depicting Hitler in what feels to me like an almost sympathetic way. For me, it placed historical/cultural importance on the wrong part of this horrific event. I think that the American style of the pointing finger is also an interesting touch that shows the historical importance of interactions between countries.

This exhibit shows us how culture and the past can be perceived in a lot of different ways. Sweden is a cultural capital for so many different reasons, and diversity and democracy are two of those reasons. By having this controversial artwork in a museum, Sweden shows that they are committed to this freedom of expression and making people think about the past and where we are now. As much as I don't like this specific exhibit, I can see the benefit in having these thought-provoking pieces in public museums where they can start important conversations and confront uncomfortable aspects of history.