Frauke Zabel - the pearl was constant

Based on the tradition of glass bead production in the Kaufbeuren-Neugablonz district, Frauke Zabel's artistic-research project "beständig war die Perle" (the bead was constant) deals with the significance of glass beads as a global commodity and establishes connections between different places and times - from Venice to South America, from Bohemia to Swabia to the structural transformation of the Neugablonz district in Kaufbeuren.

In the Kunsthaus Kaufbeuren (Art house Kaufbeuren) warehouse, Frauke Zabel makes archive materials accessible as a subjective collection through her artistic sorting. This tells of the global trade in goods at different times in colonial and neo-colonial contexts, but also of appropriation and self-empowerment.

Frauke Zabel's training as a silver and goldsmith at the vocational school for glass and jewellery in Kaufbeuren-Neugablonz and her learning of the technique of glass bead winding at the Bohemian Lamp Fire form the starting point. Over the course of the exhibition, production sites, design and sales structures will be analysed, the collection will be expanded and supplemented with works from the archive and the lessons at the vocational school.

In addition to the presentation in the exhibition space, posters will be shown in public spaces in Neugablonz and city walks will invite visitors to explore the neighbourhood. In this way, an artistic collection and a participatory laboratory will be created in a variety of voices and perspectives, which will develop a long-term, dialogue-based narrative.

Last edited on 24.02.2026