Stadtmuseum Exhibition

How do people experience, and did they experience the river  that flows through the middle of Paderborn – in the past and today? The exhibition at the city museum invites you to rediscover the special relationship between the city and its namesake river. Six chapters create a multi-faceted portrait of the Pader: it appears as a living being, as a source of power, as a mirror of human emotions – and as an inspiring companion through the ages. Maps, cityscapes, works of art and everyday objects tell the story of the close relationship between the city and the river. A copper engraving from 1672, for example, depicts the Pader as a powerful river god – an early artistic personification. Drawings and technical relics illustrate the waterworks that have been used since the 16th century to pump water up to the upper town. Landscape paintings from 1665 to the presentday capture the atmosphere and show how the river has changed in people’s imaginations, but also in reality. An Open Call brought together around 20 works by contemporary artists from Paderborn, each of whom approaches the theme in their own way. The selection is supplemented by photographic works from a German-Polish photographer exchange programme with the partner city of Przemyśl. Two international positions expand the view beyond the human perspective: Pallavi Paul follows the dipper bird through image and sound, while Anne Duk Hee Jordan focuses on the hidden creatures in the groundwater of the Pader. Both artists are part of the exhibition I am the river. 

… the Pader and its city is designed as an associative flow of images – surprising, poetic and lively.