KOFFER.GESCHICHTEN – Das östliche Europa in Stuttgart

Imagine you had to leave home and only had one suitcase: what would you pack? Simple suitcases are transformed into narrative objects.

Imagine you had to leave your homeland and only had one suitcase: what would you pack? To mark the 50th anniversary of the Haus der Heimat Baden-Württemberg, students at the Merz Akademie Hochschule für Gestaltung, Kunst und Medien Stuttgart are artistically exploring the culture(s) and history(ies) of Eastern Europe and the German-speaking communities there. They transform simple suitcases into narrative objects and design them inside and out - from flat images to spatial dioramas - as a stage for personal and public narratives about coming, going, origins and arrivals.
After a prelude at the Merz Summer Festival, the works will be shown at numerous locations in Stuttgart from July 27, 2026 and will be united at the beginning of October in the Haus der Heimat with the anniversary exhibition KOFFER.GESCHICHTEN - Das östliche Europa im Gepäck.