She is the most important German pioneer of modernism in art, an icon in the female struggle for independence in life and art: Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876 – 1907).

In the summer of 1897, the young artist visits the aspiring artists’ village of Worpswede, located just outside Bremen, for the first time – and finds the place that will define her future life. Here is where she encounters the dominant themes of her art and where she engages the artistic impulses of modernism. Here is where she develops her own artistic language and where she forms the significant friendships of her short, intensive life.

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of her death, Worpswede pays homage to the painter with an extraordinary production that combines original locations, atmospheric exhibitions and contemporary interventions by international artists in the village’s public space.

Traces, Spaces …

Even today, many traces and locations in the lively artists’ village of Worpswede still remind us of Paula Modersohn-Becker: the house where she lived with her husband Otto Modersohn, her studio, the poorhouse, where she found her models, or the Barkenhoff, which was the meeting place for the artistic community.

The project Leben! (Being!) Paula Modersohn-Becker in Worpswede combines these authentic places with exhibitions in six museums in Worpswede. Atmospherically designed ”Spaces for Paula“ are dedicated to different aspects of her life and her art.

Furthermore, young international artists from the award-winning study course “Public Art and New Artistic Strategies” at Bauhaus University in Weimar aim to get closer to Paula Modersohn-Becker’s biography and the mythical Worpswede. Their contemporary interventions in public space enrich the project Leben! with yet another dimension and surprising perspectives.