HFBK

Fell down—Get UP is an installation by Chto Delat International – a collective reflection shaped by a community of diverse migrants from Russia, brought together by shared experiences of displacement, war, imperialism and repressions. It explores the emotional and political terrain of manipulation and resistance, betrayal and solidarity, hope and despair, irony and empathy. Set against the backdrop of German society’s complex and tragic historical narratives, our project also addresses the broader context of a broken and absurd world observed from marginal post-socialist and post-revolutionary position.

At its core, the project draws on two pivotal works from German cultural history: Werner Tübke’s monumental Panorama of the Peasants’ War and 

Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s radical film The Niklashausen Journey. This different works serve as historical anchors and conceptual frameworks, rich in references to failed revolutions, disillusionment with power and activism, and the recurring (if fragile) dreams of social transformation. 

By revisiting these legacies and actulazation its tragic emancipatory potential in the current moment of global political breakdown, we see an urgent need to commemorate acts of resistance and to reflect on persistent social and ecological inequalities. The project is both a mourning and a reckoning—a gesture toward the necessity (and impossibility) of change.