The Woman of the Crowd

Description (in English)

Audio walk around the Kunstmuseum of Bonn (DE). Reflections on the flâneur and the possibility of the flâneuse, even if not invisible in the crowd.

Pull Quotes

"Walking is linked to questions of space, representation and gender. It is also related to vision, to seeing and being seen, becoming visible or remaining invisible"

Screen shots
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Contributors note

This site-specific audio-walk was developed for the exhibition “The Flaneur: From Impressionism to the Present” at the Kunstmuseum Bonn. Taking Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Man of the Crowd” as a starting point, it examines the topic of flanerie and presents four alternative characters from fine art and literature as female flaneuses. While listening to their stories, the participant is led through the area surrounding the museum.

“When we think of the woman in the crowd, walking among other people, does she ever turn around and look back? Suddenly having distinct features, a personality, an identity? What if she, in turn, was the flaneur, or rather the flaneuse? One that is not relegated to the periphery? One that has her own way, her own wishes and desires? Is it even possible to think of a figure that transcends this binary opposition of established gender norms?”