BUTTERBUTTERPROJEKT
Butterbutteproject
2020-2022
Butterbutter Projekt began in 2020 with COVID-19 against Asian racism frequently occurring in Germany's everyday life.
1. Collection of artworks against Asian racism in corona time
‘Butterbutter project - Alles in Butter' was started to record Anti-Asian Racism in the context of the corona crisis in German society. Such Asian Racism had existed long before the outbreak, but it vividly manifested during COVID-19. The German press has reported hate speech against Asians in the country, but it is skeptical whether German society considers such hate speech a problem. During the recent anti-Asian racism in the Berlin subway, one police officer stated that it is not racism to address Asians as 'corona' without inflicting any physical violence. Such a statement reflected a low awareness of human rights in German society. Hate speech seems to express a personal preference, but it is public violence and political evil whose negative influence reaches all parts of society. It often goes beyond the boundary of our individual lives.
Although it must report an issue with fairness and diversity, the German press described the coronavirus as 'made in China.' It replaced the Chinese national flag with a picture of the coronavirus. Such press coverage contributed to a rise of anti-Asian sentiment in Germany. These kinds of hate speech only created fear, racial conflict, and discrimination. It is positive that an anti-discrimination law was recently passed in Berlin, creating a safeguard against hate speech. Still, we shall see whether the law will work in reality. Hate speech violates the rights of others and tarnishes the common value and ideology of humankind, which is a serious provocation against the fabric of our society. Therefore, we do our archiving project to record and stand against such hatred.
Screenshot of Butterbutter Online Exhibition, butterbutterprjekt.com, 2020-2022
“Butter” from 'Buttebutter projekt - Alles in Butter
“Alles in Butter” is a common phrase in the German language. It means 'everything is okay.' Although it has many stories of its origin, the phrase most likely originated from a common medieval practice of using butter to protect fragile products such as glasses or dishes when transporting these goods. Likewise, our project aims to transport the fragile hearts of many who experienced discrimination into one place. During the transportation process, we use butter as our medium. In the end, we freely archive voices of Anti-Asian racism by collecting works of artists (All of us are artists) living in Germany. The eligible artists will be asked to use butter directly or indirectly to express their voices against racial discrimination in the post-corona age. Butter is an essential symbol of our movement.
Butterbutter-projekt :
Butter is pronounced as butter in German. If one repeats the same word twice, it becomes similar to the Korean word buteo (roughly translated as come behind me) as Koreans say to their friend buteo! buteo! During their childhood to gather for games, this project aims to generate a more prominent voice on the issue of racial discrimination in German society by gathering our voices into one collective. Therefore, we named our project 'Project Butterbutter' to show that we all have something to say on this issue.
Download Korean Version Statement
A project by Lijung, Gwiyeon Han, Kyuwon Moon, Yeosong Kim, Dahye Jeong
With support by BUMS, Interflugs, Kunst im Kontext an der UDK.
Thanks to all the contributing artists
Interview with Tagesspiel, 10.05.2021, NR. 24 531
2. Empowerment Workshop “Für dich, für mich, für uns”
2022.
Video/ Editing: Hara Shin
Durch den Ausbruch des Corona Virus kam es verstärkt zu rassistischen Übergriffen gegenüber gelesenen Asiat*innen. Daraufhin riefen asiatische Künstler*innen an der UdK das „Butterbutter-Projekt“ ins Leben, um mit ihrer Kunst ein Zeichen gegen Rassismus zu setzen. An diesem Projekt waren 33 Künstler*innen aus Deutschland beteiligt, die Butter als Medium nutzten, um ihre Gefühle über Rassismus auszudrücken.
Im Deutschen ist „Alles in Butter“ ein häufiger Ausdruck. Er bedeutet übersetzt: „Alles ist in Ordnung“. Die Redewendung leitet sich von einer beliebten mittelalterlichen Praxis ab, zerbrechliche Gegenstände wie Gläser und Geschirr beim Transport mit Butter zu schützen. In ähnlicher Weise zielen die Bemühungen des Projekts darauf ab, die gebrochenen Herzen vieler Menschen, die Opfer von Diskriminierung geworden sind, zusammenzubringen.
In einem vom Butterbutter-Projekt organisierten Workshop „Für dich, für mich, für uns“ können sich Teilnehmer*innen mit Vorurteilen auseinandersetzen und ihre Erfahrungen austauschen. Der Workshop ist in zwei Teile gegliedert und beginnt mit einer kurzen Einführung in das „Butterbutter-Projekt“ und einem Brainstorming zum Thema Rassismus. Im ersten Teil werden Geschichten vorgelesen, im zweiten Teil können die Teilnehmer*innen ihre Erfahrungen mit Rassismus auf die Butterkekse malen oder schreiben. Während dieser Zeit wollen wir weiter über rassistische Erfahrungen diskutieren.
Durch die Teilnahme an diesem Workshop wollen wir gemeinsam darüber nachdenken, wie Rassismus unser Leben durchdrungen hat und wie wir zusammenarbeiten können, um Rassismus abzulehnen. Wir freuen uns, wenn Ihr euch zahlreich für den Workshop anmeldet.
Photo: Miji Lee
A Workshop by Lijung, Dahye Jeong, Miji Lee, Hara Shin, Jisu Jeong
With support by AStA, Demokratie in der Mitte, Korea Verband
