To Understand the Political Climate in Germany, Turn to Art: Review of “Made in Germany? Art and Identity in a Global Nation”

The exhibition “Made in Germany? Art and Identity in a Global Nation” ran at the Harvard Art Museums between September 13, 2024 and January 5, 2025. Focusing on labor migration and German re‐unification as its two pillars, the exhibition presented German art since the 1980s and brought new names, many of whom have migration backgrounds, to awareness for the North American audience. The review makes two claims about this exhibition. First, political developments in Germany, especially the electoral successes of the far‐right party Alternative für Deutschland , made the exhibition more relevant than its organizers expected. Second, the review asks about the potential to expand the network of what constitutes German multicultural identity as described in the exhibition through the inclusion of contemporary Jewish artists.