Annual programme "Staged Indians" at the Karl May Museum

Indigenous North America is many thousands of kilometres away for us in Europe. Even if we can travel by plane today: The image we have of 'the Indians' is still mostly shaped by depictions in books, films or on the stage.

The Karl May Museum is dedicating its 2024 annual programme to the topic of "Indians staged". Various lectures show how indigenous people from North America have been portrayed and displayed throughout history or how they have staged themselves. At the same time, the special exhibition "Show Indians" takes a look at the phenomenon of "Wild West Shows": How did they become a crowd-puller at the end of the 19th century? And what did their indigenous actors leave behind here in Europe?

Friday, 9 February, 19:00
Lecture "The feather bonnet as an object of appropriation" (Dr Markus H. Lindner, Goethe University Frankfurt a.M.)
Whether in films, advertising or as a carnival accessory: the feather bonnet is considered the iconic garment of 'the Indians'. However, it traditionally played no role for many indigenous peoples in North America and only became established as a stereotype in the late 19th century. The lecture by North American ethnologist Markus Lindner shows where the historical roots of the plains feather bonnet lie and why we still associate it so strongly with 'the Indians' today. He also discusses its role as an object of cultural appropriation, through which it also became a hipster and festival accessory a few years ago and as such has come under criticism. 

Friday, 8 March, 18:30
Lecture "From Wild West Shows to Western Film" (Prof. Dr Brigitte Georgi-Findlay, TU Dresden)
Around 1900, Wild West shows were still one of the most important forms of entertainment in which American culture told stories about its origins and its way west. A little later, the Western film took over this role. The lecture by Brigitte Georgi-Findlay as part of the annual programme "Staged Indians" sheds light on how the new medium took up familiar motifs from the Wild West shows, which roles were assigned to indigenous North Americans and how these have changed over time.

Friday, 19 April, 18:30
Lecture by the Karl May Museum Association: A Lakota in Saxon soil - Edward Two Two (Hartmut Rietschel)
The burial place of the Sioux Indian Edward Two Two has been in Dresden for almost 110 years now. Who was Edward Two Two? Why is his grave in Germany and what do his descendants in the USA say about it? Hartmut Rietschel will talk about all this on this evening.

All dates at a glance: 
- 12 January: Lecture "Indians in Radebeul" (Robin Leipold)
- 9 February: Lecture& 
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Lecture "Indians in Radebeul" (Robin Leipold). February: Lecture  "Die Federhaube als Objekt der Aneignung" (Dr Markus Lindner)
- 8 March: Lecture  "Von den Wild West Shows zum Western-Film" (Prof. Dr Brigitte Georgi-Findlay)
- 19. April: Lecture series of the Förderverein Karl-May-Museum e.V.  "Ein Lakota in sächsischer Erde - Edward Two Two" (Hartmut Rietschel)
- 21 June: Lecture  "Herbeholte Ferne - Völkerschauen in Deutschland" (Dr. Hilke Thode-Arora)
- 21 September: Panel discussion  "Karl May on stage - present and future?" (with representatives from various theatres and experts)