Tenez bon, nous arrivons

Tenez bon, nous arrivons / Hold on tight, here we come
2020
Photographic series, 14 images
Dimensions variable

The photographic work Tenez bon, nous arrivons deals with the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Paris on August 25, 1944, from a today’s perspective. Today the myth of the self-liberation of Paris in 1944 still exists and continues to be an important point of reference within France’s state-staged politics of the past. The myth, back then was formed by General Charles de Gaulle in 1944 pointing out, that France always remained sovereign, liberating itself by its own efforts. What de Gaulle knowingly ignored at that moment was the role of the Allies in the liberation of the city and also the collaboration of the Vichy government with the German occupiers. These inconvenient realties were excluded from the presentation of the liberation to present a nationalistic French success story. As an identity-forming moment in the context of public remembrance, it still legitimizes contemporary political action, even though the role of France, which has remained sovereign, is now even increasingly questioned in historical research. Luise Schröder’s images deal with the examination of this myth and its historical staging in the present.