The artist Olaf Metzel, born in Berlin in 1952, is one of the most significant contemporary German sculptors. In the retrospective exhibition at Villa Schöningen and in the sculpture garden, works created by him between 1987 and 2014 are on display. Through his socially critical works, he reflects on recent history’s events. In his approach of uncovering, perhaps also unprocessed and repressed aspects from oblivion, there are indeed parallels that can be drawn to the spirit of the exhibition venue.

In the idyllic setting of Villa Schöningen’s garden, which was once part of the restricted zone of the East German border regime and symbolizes state repression, an iron-cast pistol adds a disturbing accent, as does the bronze sculpture “Turkish Delight” from 2006: a female nude with a headscarf, through which Olaf Metzel addresses the controversy between Western and Islamic culture.