Ana Hoffner ex-Prvulovic* follows with incredible density and intensity the way of life, the world view, the psychology but above all the material foundation of the bourgeoisie and unveils the power relations, changes and especially: continuities of bourgeois life and economy up to our present.
The site-specific installation Facilitiy/Einrichtung (2023) is intensely concerned with the intertwining of bourgeoisie and industry - describing industry as the source of bourgeois prosperity, although it is left out of the bourgeois spaces. Thus Hoffner ex-Prvulovic*'s first gesture is to take the stucco off the walls and discover industrial production behind it. For the artist*, the display of stucco stands not only for bourgeois respect for craftsmanship, but also for a concealment of industrial production. From her* point of view, the handmade is emphasized in order not to have to talk about the fact that the wealth generated comes from industrial exploitation. By turning the material relations upside down, the artist* thus creates a new attention for the value system that lies behind the historical ornaments.
For perhaps it can be said that the Villa Salve Hospes stands for the social rise of the bourgeoisie like no other building in Braunschweig. The construction of the building was initiated by the bourgeois grain and hop merchant Dietrich Wilhelm Krause. His house, built as the first house on the square, was considered the center of the city's social life during the 19th century. The villa thus marks that historical caesura for Braunschweig, with which the bourgeoisie became the leading social class.
Text by by Benedikt Johannes Seerieder