Women at the Reiff

An exhibition at the Reiff Museum, curated by RWTH architecture students, will feature the history of women at the Reiff, as well as the current situation of female staff at the Faculty of Architecture, from December 15 to December 21, 2022.

Taking the current debate about female professionals and women in public perception as their starting point, architecture students investigated the work of female students, scholars, and administrative staff in terms of structural, content-related, and methodological aspects. They worked on the project under the direction of Frederike Eyhoff and Dr. Birgit Schillak-Hammers from the Chair of Art History for two semesters. The goal was to add a female perspective to the hitherto masculine story of the Reiff. In addition, the students wanted to make the stumbling blocks in women's academic careers visible to stimulate discussion about how the situation could be improved. Their findings line up with an overarching scientific feminist discourse.

The scope of the exhibition ranges from scientific statistics to interviews and press articles to a photo project that makes the women at the Reiff visible in the truest sense of the word. The exhibition will kick off with a panel discussion on December 15, 2022, at 6pm in the foyer of the Reiff (Schinkelstraße 1, 52062 Aachen) on the topic of “Women in Science” with representatives from the Faculty of Architecture. Dipl. Ing. Karin Hartmann has been specially invited. She is the author of the book “Schwarzer Rolli, Hornbrille” (Black turtleneck, horn-rimmed glasses), in which she examines the professional perspective of female architects in particular.