The Parliament Dreams

Location

entrance free

"The Parliament Dreams" as a guest at KOSMOS Chemnitz 2025

Could a picture revitalise the much-vaunted "dream of Europe"? A romantic-looking group picture showing Europe's representatives, including the Council and Commission, dreaming shoulder to shoulder? The photomontage reconstructs a plenary session in Strasbourg, all 818 participants have their eyes closed and are looking inwards. The individual snapshot portraits were captured from the visitors' gallery during the sessions (Oct. 2019 to Feb. 2020), cut out and reinserted in the plenary chamber, which was photographed empty from the lectern, so that the most beautiful and pensive plenary session possible can be seen. The "dream of Europe" presumably refers to a wishful dream, even if the interpretation as a daydream or a sleep dream fits just as well here. According to dream research, uncontrollable dreaming, even brief pauses, is fundamental for the brain's connection processes in order to be able to think independently and creatively, feel empathy and act accordingly. Consequently, a parliament that has to decide on the framework conditions for the "dream of Europe" has to dream from time to time as a matter of course. The fact that a dreaming plenary can also appear naïve or populist at first glance is a calculation that stimulates discussion, so that very different people can come together here to view and debate their European ideas.

Martina Geiger-Gerlach: With her aesthetic participative works, the conceptual and action artist searches for the unsettling core of a current political debate and invites people to dare to start thinking again.

Guided tours with the artist are possible upon request (Tel.: 0160 98363311).