Q& A with Dr Rhea Thönges-Stringaris hosted by Dr Anselm Heinrich
Andres Veiel / Germany 2017 / 117m / 12A
Beuys. The man with the hat, the felt and the "fat corner". 30 years after his death, he appears to us as a visionary, ahead of his time. Patiently he tried to explain to us even then that “money must not be a commodity”. He knew that the money market would undermine democracy. But there was more behind his work. Beuys boxes, parodies, lectures and explains the art to the dead hare. “Do you want to make a revolution without laughing?” He asks - and laughs. His expanded concept of art took him right to the heart of today’s relevant social debates.
Dr. Rhea Thönges-Stringaris (*1934 Athen) studied Classical archeology and Art history from 1954 to 1959 in Bonn and Munich and subsequently received a PhD. From 1961 to 1974 she worked at the
Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen in Kassel and in 1972 she joined in the movement "Direkte Demokratie e.V." In the same year, she became friends with Joseph Beuys, with whom she collaborated in subsequent years.
In 1977, during the exhibition Documenta 6 in Kassel and the 100-day presence of the artist, Thönges-Stringaris contributed to the discussions Beuys held with the visitors about his extended concept of art, social sculpture and direct democracy. She herself says that politics was the foundation of her friendship with Beuys. Rhea Thönges-Stringaris has always been politically active and was a founding member of the party Die Grünen in 1997.
From 1981 to 1987 she was member of the Supervisory Board of Documenta and worked until 1987 on the Beuys projekt 7000 Oaks. Since 2003, Thönges-Stringaris has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the 7000 Eichen Foundation and since 2006 a member of the Board of Trustees for More Democracy.
Dr Anselm Heinrich is Senior Lecturer in Theatre Studies at Glasgow University. His research focuses on German theatre and performance of the 19th and 20th century.
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