GDR history – Olivia Schneider: “The East is more diverse”

For example, on your Instagram channel you show how you can make ice cream or cake from Bautzen mustard. How did the channel “tumvlt” come about?

I studied art and dealt a lot with social media during my studies. The account was originally created in this context. After I got my diploma, I started studying social work and was a little confused about what to do with the fictional character on the account. Over the past year, I and those around me have become more concerned with East Germany. I asked myself what shapes it, what reminds me of the East or what are typically East German things that people from West Germany don’t even notice. This resulted in the first video that went viral. In it you can see many short shots from my summer in Saxony – from the giant zucchini from my grandma’s garden, a car loaded with Dynamo Dresden merchandise, to plastic chairs and Vita Cola by the lake – all under the title “Living la East German vita«. This wasn’t planned at all, but this niche happened to work. Since then I have played quite a bit with Eastern products like Bautzen mustard, as they are extremely charged with identity.

How are these short videos created?

I run my Instagram channel as a hobby. I make cooking videos without much effort or collect impressions of what I experience when I’m out and about in everyday life. I enjoy, for example, spontaneously driving to Bischofswerda, then walking around there and filming things that I find funny or that seem “Eastern” to me. These can be old bakeries, snack bars or nice ice cream parlors, but also empty shops as a symbol of the change in many small East German towns after the fall of the Wall.

»“Eastern Identity” is very contested, and there are strong attempts from the right to occupy it. How do you deal with it?

I have no interest in Eastern identity being reclaimed by the right. For me and those around me, the East is also a point of reference, but without any sense of homeland pride or demarcation from the West. In practice, it’s a fine line. I try not to slip too much into this identitarian corner, to serve nostalgia or to be striking. Buying a Trabi now, driving it proudly around the area and making videos of it – that would be too much for me. The East is more diverse.

Do you have an example?

I’m thinking about concrete fences from the GDR. As a child, I never considered that it was something “Eastern” or cool. Only later did I discover the connection to architecture and also the “DIY” character of this architecture. I enjoy finding little things like these strange concrete fences that can be seen fifty times in every East German village. I try to look at something like this with a loving eye, to appreciate it.

Some of the places you portray always have something dreary, abandoned, old-fashioned about them. What is the charm there for you?

The prehistoric park in Sebnitz, for example, still looks the same as it did when I was there as a child. I don’t want to be an opponent of modernization, but it is a striking contrast to the modern minimalism that you often find elsewhere today. For me, such places have charm, but there is an ambivalence. Often they only radiate a pleasant feeling for a certain target group. Especially in the rural east, there are always people who may not feel comfortable there because there is no protection against discrimination. Sometimes the mindset “Everything stays the same for us!” also means that you don’t want any change for the better. Nevertheless, I think it’s a shame when such places are pushed out or disappear, which is what is currently happening a lot with GDR architecture.

They also visited progressive projects in the East. Why was that important to you?

I grew up in a village in Saxony and went to school in Pirna. When I was younger, I would have celebrated it immensely if there had been alternative options. Such projects ultimately also work on the prospect of staying, so that not all the cool people move away and there is a bubble in which you feel safe, even in small places. It is important to me to show such stable left-wing or subcultural projects and places. There is, the “other” East – but it is currently under threat and needs visibility and support. I want to use my reach for this. Sometimes my work seems a bit pointless in comparison when I make cooking videos while other activists stick their necks out. But from a consumer perspective, a mix of content might also be helpful. Sometimes you might feel like watching something that isn’t always super politically charged, but rather revolves around lifestyle issues.

You often mention your grandmother in the videos. How does your family view your project?

At the beginning my parents couldn’t understand it, which is probably also a generational issue. At the time of reunification, my parents longed for new opportunities and experiences. My reference to the East was rather strange for them. But things have changed a lot now. We exchange ideas with each other a lot more; my mother now constantly sends me links to documentaries and exhibitions related to the GDR. My grandmother also thinks my project is very cool; her friends sometimes show her what I’m doing and she’s happy about it. She also sees my work as an appreciation of her own history.

To what extent is the project linked to the fact that the GDR no longer exists?

In terms of history and politics, this of course has a different context than when people from West Germany present their childhood food. Because the GDR no longer exists, I think there is always greater curiosity among people from East Germany. A lot of things from that time are disappearing; my parents, for example, threw away all their GDR furniture. I sometimes feel like I want to preserve certain things and places.

You recently wrote your bachelor’s thesis on the topic “Unemployment after the fall of the Wall – Psychosocial effects and coping strategies in the event of unemployment and system change”. To what extent can such experiences be processed on Instagram?

During the discussions, I noticed that it is still very upsetting for those affected to talk about this time of transformation, that their experiences are full of shame and that there is still a great need for discussion. I totally underestimated that before. I published a few insights into my work on Instagram. I then received a lot of messages in which people from very different generations shared their family stories. I can imagine that this will also play a role in my artistic work in the future.

What’s next for you?

There is a course in Görlitz that deals with social change, which I find exciting as a master. Otherwise I let myself drift.