On Camouflaging - As part of the work: The Day the Clouds Vanished

On the occasion of the presentation of The Day the Clouds Vanished, the video work by Sofia Dona installed at Pragsattel, the artist will be in conversation with artist and researcher Norbert Prothmann. Together, they will discuss historical camouflage techniques, urban fog installations, and the cultural and artistic dimensions of concealment, disappearance, and visibility in public space.

Taking the artificial fogging of Stuttgart during World War II as a starting point, the conversation will explore how camouflage strategies shaped the city’s topography—and what traces, if any, remain today. The talk continues as a walk through the former Leibfried Garden, past the Löwentor, and into Rosenstein Park, where in 1944 one of Stuttgart’s major fog installations was located. Alongside a second facility on Sparrhärmlingweg, it was responsible for masking the industrial area around Pragstraße.

This site lay in close proximity to several forced labor camps established in Rosenstein Park by companies including Daimler-Benz, SKF/Norma, Wizemann, Fortuna, and Eckart. These camps were largely destroyed during air raids on the industrial zone, and today, no visible traces of them remain. They have all but disappeared from the city’s collective memory. Sofia Dona’s contribution to the festival also draws attention to this "hidden history" at the heart of one of Stuttgart’s most prominent urban green spaces.

The presentation, conversation, and walk—On Camouflaging, part of The Day the Clouds Vanished—will begin at 11:00 a.m. at the Pragsattel high bunker. The meeting point is directly at the bunker. The event will conclude around 1:00 p.m. in Rosenstein Park. It will be held bilingually in English and German.

Registration requested: anmeldung@artpublicspace.de