Henrike Naumann
born in 1984 in Zwickau, DDR (today Germany); died in 2026 in Berlin, Germany
Tapete 2000, 2021
wallpaper, recurring pattern, digitally edited
Commission evn collection 2021
First shown at Wallpaper #5, 2022 in Maria Enzersdorf, Austria
Inv. No. WP_26
Born in Zwickau in 1984, artist Henrike Naumann’s Installations and video works deal with the political and aesthetic history of reunified Germany. Her work revolves around the everyday culture of the GDR, the upheavals following 1990, and the question of how design —furniture, interiors, patterns—reflects social ideologies. Naumann understands design as a historical testimony: a material archive that makes power relations, hopes, and conflicts visible. The wallpaper ‘Tapete2000’ (from Tapete, German for ‘wallpaper’), created for evn collection, unites design objects from East and West from the 1990s and 2000s in a scatter pattern. Toasters, floor lamps, speakers, and small furniture pieces become ornaments that continue Naumann’s longstanding exploration of the aesthetic ruptures of the post-reunification era. The seemingly random distribution of objects points to a transitional period in which floor plans, lifestyles, and consumer cultures were being reorganized—and in which many people’s everyday lives oscillated between old habits and new promises. A key aspect of this work is the choice of the background material: the motif of woodchip, or Ingrain wallpaper. Often dismissed as stuffy or old-fashioned today, it once was an expression of functional modernism. Invented in the 19th century and later valued during the Bauhaus era, it was considered a resource-efficient, durable, and easily repaintable alternative to patterned wallpaper. Its practicality—the ability to cover minor wall imperfections and the possibility of frequent repainting—once perceived as an advantage, now often lost its appeal. The fact that the company that invented it is based in Wuppertal and bears the surname Erfurt builds an unexpected bridge to Naumann’s engagement with German everyday cultures and their political connotations. ‘Tapete2000’ was developed alongside Naumann’s installation for the Future Generation Art Prize 2021 in Lviv, in which she examines the effects of postmodernism on reunified Germany. This wallpaper likewise reveals how design shapes identity—and how objects themselves reflect the fractures and hopes of an entire country.continue reading
Text: Heike Maier-Rieper, 2026
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)