Close-Up – The Film Costumes of Barbara Baum

1.10.20 – 9.8.21

Costume design is one of the essential cinematic arts. It assists the audience in identifying cinematic spaces and eras. It makes the characters’ traits visible, indicates their social status and their state of mind. In doing so it produces identificatory proximity. Put simply, it helps us identify with the characters. Costumes enable the performers to immerse themselves in the characters they portray. The fabrics – often historical in origin – not only constitute a visual accent within the composition but also ensure authenticity.

Costume designer Barbara Baum has an extraordinary sense for fabrics. They are not only her working material, but also a source of inspiration: “I always think in terms of fabrics. I even get goose bumps over exceptional fabrics! For me, the decision to use this or that very specific fabric is usually already half the costume”. “Close-Up” reflects Barbara Baum’s creative oeuvre via her major films, including ‘Die Ehe der Maria Braun’ (West Germany, 1978, directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder), ‘Homo Faber’ (GER/F/GR, 1991, directed by Volker Schlöndorff) and ‘Buddenbrooks’ (GER, 2008, directed by Heinrich Breloer).

An exhibition of the DFF- Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, Frankfurt am Main

A hands-on exhibition

“Close-Up” is also a hands-on exhibition with a tactile element that affords blind and visually impaired individuals a multisensory experience. Costume designs are translated into tactile relief prints. Form and cut, the fall of the folds, or details such as sequins can be felt with one’s fingertips. Barbara Baum’s notes for the dressmakers are presented on legends in braille. Original fabric swatches convey the haptic quality of the material used. The tactile information is also accompanied by an audio description. The space and costumes are described in great detail, allowing images to unfold in the mind’s eye. Innovative digital canvases behind the original costumes add an additional sensory element. They demonstrate the symbiosis between the actor and the film costume as a moving image. The montage clips are collages and focus solely on the costume.

Audio guides available at the cash register enable the visitors, in particular those who are visually impaired or blind, to have the contents of the exhibition read to them as an audio description. For guests using white canes, the display case edges and bases as well as the costume pedestals serve as a guideline. Attention fields on the floor indicate audio guide points and tactile stations.

Credits

Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, Frankfurt am Main

Director: Ellen M. Harrington  Projektleiter
Curator: Hans-Peter Reichmann
Project coordinator, curator: Isabelle Louise Bastian 
Assistants: Judith Fröhlich, Paula Günther, Louise Lindlar, Anja Neubauer, Hannah Pfeiffer, Lisa Siegle
Supported by: Johanna Honkomp, Pei Li, Adriane Meusch und Isabella Müller
Media curator: Michael Kinzer  
Interviews Barbara Baum: Christiane Habich, Isabelle Louise Bastian (Redaktion),  Erik Krambeck (Kamera und Ton), Michael Kinzer (Schnitt)  
Translations: Rebecca van Dyck 
Conservational supervision (paper): Kathrin Sündermann 
Metal construction: Martin Steinmetz Ingenieurbüro & Metallverarbeitung, Oberursel (Taunus) 

 

Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen, Berlin

Artistic Director: Rainer Rother
Executive Director: Florian Bolenius
Exhibition adaptation: Vera Thomas, Nils Warnecke
Copy editing: Julia Schell
Head of costume restoration and installation: Christa Hedderich 
Costume supervision: Barbara Baum, Christa Hedderich 
Exhibition construction: Camillo Kuschel Ausstellungsdesign, Berlin  
Exhibition graphics: mind the gap! design (Karl-Heinz Best), Frankfurt/Main
Tactile room plans: Tactile Studio, Paris und Berlin 
Audio description: Audioskript (Alexander Fichert), Berlin
Tactile floor elements: REC Bauelemente GmbH, Berlin 
Inclusion supervision: Allgemeiner Blinden- und Sehbehindertenverein Berlin gegr. 1874 e. V. (ABSV), Christel Jung, Paloma Rändel, Roswitha Röding, Peter Woltersdorf, Jurek Sehrt
Graphic production: Bartneck Print Artists, Berlin
Technical services:  Frank Köppke, Roberti Siefert
Lighting and AV technology: Stephan Werner
Design advertising art: FÜNFZEHN
Press: Heidi Berit Zapke
Marketing: Jonas Malte Scheler
Website: Julia Pattis, Theresa Spreckelsen
Education and Outreach: Jurek Sehrt
Guided tours and workshops: Gitte Hellwig, Fabian Fornalski​

Lenders

Costumes
Costumi d‘Arte, Rom
DFF – Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum, Frankfurt
Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen, Berlin
Theaterkunst Kostümausstattung, Berlin

Digital unique copies und digital screens
Active Image, Berlin und New York

Fabrics
Anita Pavani Stoffe

Holders of rights film excerpts
Bavaria Film, München; Beta Film, München;  Constantin Film, München; Eisbach Filmstudios,  München; Laura Film, Berlin; Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation, Berlin; Rialto Film, Berlin; Senator/Central Film Berlin; STUDIOCANAL, Berlin

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Siegfried Barth, Daniela Bartoli, Susanne Becker,  Alessandra Cinti, Antonio Cucuzzella, Daniela Dietrich, DialogMuseum Frankfurt am Main, Korbinian Frank, Susanne Franke, Nikola Fölster, JP Stoffe (Mörfelden-Walldorf), Jens Kaufmann, Christine Kopf, Annette Koyro, Henning Lohner, Juliane Maria Lorenz-Wehling, André Mieles, Laura Nobile, Peter Mänz, Gabriele Pacchia, Anita Pavani, Giuseppe Peruzzi, Beat Presser, Evi Scherrer, Dr. Barbara Schröter, Roswitha Schwabenland, Sebastian Schwittay, Marie-Christin Severin, Stoffe Hartmann  (Gelsenkirchen), Alessandro Trappetti, Oliver Weiss.

Partners

The exhibition is supported by the
Lotto Stiftung Berlin

The tactile outreach concept is supported by the
Commerzbank-Stiftung
Arbeitskreis selbstständiger Kulturinstitute e.V.

Supported by
Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation, Berlin
Theaterkunst Kostümausstattung, Berlin
Adolf und Luisa Haeusser-Stiftung für Kunst und Kulturpflege
Costumi d’Arte, Rom
Allgemeiner Blinden- und Sehbehindertenverein Berlin gegr. 1874 e.V.

Media partners
radioeins (rbb)