I live in Germany for over 6 years, and come from Russia. I don’t appreciate generalisation, but some things he mentioned just ring the bell. Some Germans I met definitely fit the description, but not the others.
I don’t think art here is complacent, but I also see how artists from outside of Germany (and generally, foreigners), often tune down their criticism towards Germany.
At work, my German colleagues are very sensitive if a foreigner criticizes late trains or long bureaucratic procedures. There’s a notion we should be grateful, and if we don’t like something, we should go back to places we like…
Germans themselves seem to be critical of their society though, so I wonder how it works from the inside.
Perhaps Ai Weiwei’s point is a perspective of an outsider who’s expected to express gratefulness and complacency.
I’ve lived in the most northern region of Germany for over 30 years now, and still feel foreign here even though I’m white as it gets and speak German better than most Germans. The mindset of many Germans is on such a basic level because many have never stepped a foot outside of their country. And if they did, it was usually in either German speaking countries or tourist destinations full of other Germans. Many Germans are afraid of new things and prefer to live in their bubble, where Germany is the most advanced and civilized nation on Earth (which is utter bullshit). The feeling of being a foreigner becomes worse the farther south you go. I’m just happy that I got to know a couple of very good people who don’t fit this description.
I live in Germany for over 6 years, and come from Russia. I don’t appreciate generalisation, but some things he mentioned just ring the bell. Some Germans I met definitely fit the description, but not the others.
I don’t think art here is complacent, but I also see how artists from outside of Germany (and generally, foreigners), often tune down their criticism towards Germany.
At work, my German colleagues are very sensitive if a foreigner criticizes late trains or long bureaucratic procedures. There’s a notion we should be grateful, and if we don’t like something, we should go back to places we like…
Germans themselves seem to be critical of their society though, so I wonder how it works from the inside.
Perhaps Ai Weiwei’s point is a perspective of an outsider who’s expected to express gratefulness and complacency.
I’ve lived in the most northern region of Germany for over 30 years now, and still feel foreign here even though I’m white as it gets and speak German better than most Germans. The mindset of many Germans is on such a basic level because many have never stepped a foot outside of their country. And if they did, it was usually in either German speaking countries or tourist destinations full of other Germans. Many Germans are afraid of new things and prefer to live in their bubble, where Germany is the most advanced and civilized nation on Earth (which is utter bullshit). The feeling of being a foreigner becomes worse the farther south you go. I’m just happy that I got to know a couple of very good people who don’t fit this description.