BAUHAUS, A NEW ERA

Bauhaus, a New Era, originally titled Die Neue Zeit, is a series created by Lars Kraume in 2019. It depicts the fictional story of Dörte Helm, a student at the Bauhaus school.
The series shows her striving for independence in a male-dominated environment, alongside major historical figures such as Paul Klee and Walter Gropius.

By choosing to put a woman at the forefront to tell a story about the Bauhaus, the director challenges the audience.
Was art history, as it has been told to us, truly governed only by men? Don’t women play an equally important role in art and design?

Although the decision to highlight a female student at the Bauhaus may seem positive, or even a “feminist” act, this is only superficial.
In fact, the story heavily romanticizes the relationship between the protagonist and the school’s director, Walter Gropius, sometimes focusing solely on these events at the expense of portraying the woman’s achievements within the school.

However, this series is not simply a love story. It allows the audience to discover one of, if not the most important design movements of the 20th century, while giving a special focus to women.
Thus, even if Bauhaus, a New Era does not adopt a strictly activist perspective, it still has the merit of putting women back at the center, acting as a counter to the Matilda Effect experienced by some women of the time, such as Lucia Moholy.