Modernism - Designing a New World: exhibition until 01-07-2007 at MARTa Herford [12-08-2006] The horrors of World War I engraved on their minds, a number of designers and artists prepared to create a better world about 90 years ago. With a collection of approximately 400 exhibits and 50 film clips, MARTa Herford unrolls the history of modernism - a cross-section of all visual disciplines of design. The goal was to unify all the arts. What also drew together the designers of this era was the rigorous break with history - the turning away from hate, the lust for possession, economic inequality, factors which, in their view, had contributed to the outbreak of World War I. The rejection of the ornament, the turning towards the abstract and the belief in changing society socially and politically with their art was what united those taking part. They stood up for the new beginning and its realisation. In retrospect, the "modern" is spoken of as a style, although the multitude of approaches to the development of a completely new world was more than just a question of style. The exhibition therefore focuses deliberately on the term "modernism" and regards this as the connecting link of the different trends. It explains its development in eight steps in the years from 1914 to 1939 emphasising architecture and design in Europe and Russia, as well as North America to a degree. Owing to the integral claim of "those embodying modernism", paintings sculptures, photographs, films, graphic and fashion can also be seen in Herford. Folding stools provided by the museum allow the visitors to linger in front of exhibits of famous designers and also makes the reading of the explanatory texts easier as they are set at quite a low level. > Overview