The soundtrack to the POWER TO THE PEOPLE exhibition at the SCHIRN includes songs dating from 1937 to the present day, with artists ranging from Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Stevie Wonder to Mona Haydar and Kendrick Lamar. What they all have in common is criticism of the political system and inequality in the world.
Regardless of whether they come from the USA, South America or Africa, the Balkans, Beirut or Palestine, all the musicians featured in the SCHIRN SOUNDTRACK use their songs as a call to resistance, to look closely rather than look away, and to think more carefully about the kind of world we actually want to live in.
The playlist begins with Billie Holiday and thus the year 1937. Her song “Strange Fruit” was one of the first to penetrate the entertainment arena with an explicit political message. In it, she refers to the terrible lynching of African-Americans during that time. Other musicians too, including South African singer Miriam Makeba – one of the most influential voices in the resistance against Apartheid – and Nina Simone with her song “Why? (The King Of Love is Dead)” (1970), which she recorded three days after the murder of Martin Luther King, used their music to criticize racism and discrimination against blacks.
Happy Birthday to whom?
Less well known, perhaps, is the actual trigger for the popular classic “Happy Birthday” (1981) by Stevie Wonder. It was actually dedicated to just one birthday in particular, namely that of Martin Luther King, which Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley and Gil Scott-Heron wanted to make a public holiday in the USA.
I just never understood
How a man who died for good
Could not have a day that would
Be set aside for his recognition
Alongside these greats in musical history, the SCHIRN SOUNDTRACK also includes entirely different voices, such as that of the Lebanese singer Fairuz. Against the background of the erupting civil war in Lebanon in the 1970s, she deliberately appeared unpolitical and therefore gave more concerts abroad. The French band Mano Negra, meanwhile, which was formed in 1987 by Manu Chao, alludes to the inequality of ownership and income in South America in “Senor Matanza” (1994).
Driven from their homeland
Puerto Rican band Calle 13 also addresses the enduring problems in South America. Their hit “Pa’l Norte” with Cuban hip hop band Orishas was presented with the Best Urban Song Award at the Annual Latin Grammy Awards in 2007. The song refers to the battle faced by illegal South American immigrants, frequently of indigenous origin, who set out on the route northwards in search of a better life.
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_screenshot_7dc1c9d873.jpg)
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_screenshot_pa_l_norte_087b7e890c.jpg)
Syrian-American activist Mona Haydar first attracted international attention only a year ago with her rap video “Hijabi”, which she released on March 27, 2017, the first ever Muslim Women’s Day. Perhaps a little less obvious as the object of political criticism, and yet particularly pertinent, is the subject matter addressed by American-French electro-pop duo Kid Francescoli with their song “Come online” (2017), which refers to dependency on social media, which fuel and utilize – or indeed exploit – our need for recognition and love.
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_screenshot_hijabi_4ee712aac2.jpg)
All around the world love women every shading
And so the list goes on: the SCHIRN SOUNDTRACK to the POWER TO THE PEOPLE exhibition includes so many very different voices. So: turn it up, listen and – most importantly – tune in to what the songs are actually about!
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_POWER-TO-THE-PEOPLE_NM_7950_328f1cc16e.jpg)
New strategies for political art – Part II
Following the first article on political art, Part II deals with sit-ins, political posters and other forms of protest in art from 1968 until today.
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_phyllida_barlow_47c7435388.jpg)
PHYLLIDA BARLOW
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_Schirn_Presse_Power_to_the_People_Julius_von_Bismarck_9a0d312f49.jpg)
New strategies for political art – Part I
Politically committed art as we know it today would be almost inconceivable were it not for the events that took place around 1968. We too, so we are...
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_POWER-TO-THE-PEOPLE_NM_1238_f42f6f6c1a.jpg)
History as a fetish
History lives on in memories – and is narrated and interpreted by each generation anew. With “The Record Archive”, artist Dani Gal presents a section...
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_Preparation_No1_1_FotoNasanTur_e9722f1284.jpg)
I am a political artist!
The artist Nasan Tur, born in Offenbach in 1974, lives and works in Berlin. SCHIRN MAG talked to him about the role of political art, the developments...
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_Schirn_Presse_Power_to_the_People_Ausstellungsansicht-Foto_Norbert_Miguletz-5_2d73ff5247.jpg)
Exploring spatial limits
Wooden stakes sprinkled in paint and a sea of colorful banners currently rise up in the SCHIRN rotunda. “Untitled: 100banners2015” by artist Phyllida...
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_DSC00709_2f421a495b.jpg)
Championing democracy
SCHIRN MAG met Italian professor Donatella della Porta from Scuola Normale Superiore to talk about the dynamism of social protests and the bliss and...
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_Schirn_Presse_Power_to_the_People_Adelita_Husni-Bey_The_Sleepers_b6157d2735.jpg)
Adelita is typing...
SCHIRN MAG had a chat conversation with visual artist Adelita Husni-Bey about political art, pedagogical methods, and her painting “The Sleepers”,...
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_PttP_Forensic_Architecture_Bilin_I_f261ab1382.jpg)
The Art of Investigation
Investigative methods are not only limited to journalistic, forensic or judicial investigation proceedings, but also encompass the sphere of art....
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_screesnhot_301ddafb92.jpg)
Talkin' 'bout a revolution – Part 2
The artist Katie Holten lives and works in New York, where SCHIRN MAG has paid her a visit. In Part 2 of the series she talks about tireless protests,...
![](/fileadmin/SCHIRN/Magazin/Abbildungen_2018/Kontext/Power_to_the_People/SCHIRN_INTERVIEWS/vorschau_arhmet_oeygut.jpg)
AHMET ÖGÜT
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_screenshot_hyperlapse_b08001184d.jpg)
Talkin’ ‘bout a revolution – Part I
The SCHIRN MAG visited artist and activist Katie Holten at her New York studio to talk about tree drawings, powerful women and living in NY. Her...
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_vorschau_Dani_Gal_9ac00b7035.jpg)
DANI GAL
![](/fileadmin/SCHIRN/Magazin/Abbildungen_2018/Interview/Wolfgang_Kraushaar/Ludwig_Binder_Haus_der_Geschichte_Studentenrevolte_1968_2001_03_0275.4248__17086238215_.jpg)
The DNA of protest movements
Wolfgang Kraushaar is a political scientist who has been conducting research for decades on the protests of 1968, radicalization, and the Red Army...
![](/fileadmin/SCHIRN/Magazin/Abbildungen_2018/Kontext/Power_to_the_People/PttP_Slogan_Teil_2/Bed-In_for_Peace__Amsterdam_1969_-_John_Lennon___Yoko_Ono_16.jpg)
Power to the people – from the 1960s to today (Part 2)
Prominent figures like musicians John Lennon and James Brown, or computer specialist Ted Nelson, have made the political slogan “Power to the People”...
![](/fileadmin/SCHIRN/Ausstellungen/2018/Power_to_the_people/Power_NL_bearbeitet-1.jpg)
Power to the People - from the 1960s to the present
“Power to the People” is a slogan that reverberates time and again, used by civil rights movements all over the world.
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_Schirn_Presse_Power_to_the_People_Phyllida_Barlow_dd29e1de7f.jpg)
Power to the People
Starting March 21, 2018, the Schirn presents an extensive exhibition on the political art of the present day. It questions phenomena of and potential...