Reiner Heidorn

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„overpainting history“

the schoolmaps project

Reiner Heidorn has collected old school maps and paints them over, including maps from the Nazi regime. In doing so, he aims to keep historical memory alive and take a stand against denial.

The schoolmaps’ erased borders and re-coded place-names evoke questions of jurisdiction and education. Overlaying botanical-water motifs transforms these surfaces into a lagoon-like field where memory can flow and refract light.

Reiner – “Growing up amid Germany’s layered history, I am formed by guilt and responsibility. My work interrogates how national narratives are remembered, and how the past persists in the present through images.”

“The maps have been radically painted over, so that the original content is no longer visible. Only the titles remain as a silent reminder of a dark era. Through botanical motifs, I create a contrast between life, growth, and memory: Nature grows beyond the past, yet traces of history remain visible in the choice of motifs, the structure of the image, and the color. A warning against forgetting, trivialization, and denial of history. The overpainting transforms the maps into new pictorial spaces in which criticism, memory, and responsibility become visible.”

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