Lâle Ortak

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of screen printing live with @serio.workshop at the opening of @verasommerschuh amazing exhibition, "Working Class Print – Die Südstadt macht Druck!", at @kohi Kulturraum e.V. The exhibition is still open until the 04.10.2026 and I wholeheartedly recommend you to go see it!

Screen printing late into the night at DGB youth camps, political activism at the "Grünstreifenfeste" festivals, and clandestine printing campaigns in the streets of Karlsruhe’s Südstadt neighborhood: her exhibition explores screen printing as a tool of class struggle, political screen-printing groups, and the visual strategies of trade union youth culture.

Building on her bachelor’s thesis, Vera displayed the results of her personal and historical exploration of her hometown, Karlsruhe. The exhibition focuses on the DGB youth culture group "Die Rotstifte" (founded in 1976), the Siebdruckkollektiv Karlsruhe (founded in 1977) that emerged from it, and the political poster workshops at the DGB youth camp in Markelfingen, which was an important venue for political and creative education for many participants.