Robotron. Working Class and Intelligence

Image: Antye Guenther, Operation Zwiebelmuster

The rise of computers and microelectronics since the 1960s is often referred to as the “third industrial revolution.” In the GDR, the name “Robotron” was synonymous with the new technology that was transforming all areas of the economy.  Looking back at the history of the Kombinat, the technical possibilities and the social hopes associated with them become clear, but so do the political and economic contradictions that ultimately led to the collapse of the GDR.

With works by 20 artists, the exhibition focuses on developments in the industrial landscape of the East German state. It deals with cybernetics and bureaucracy, espionage and reverse engineering, the promise of happiness through automation and work in “real existing socialism,” clean rooms and environmental destruction, the decline of once important production sites, and reindustrialization in the Dresden area as “Silicon Saxony.” The photographs, film narratives, installations, and graphic works, some of which were created in the GDR, reveal the diverse intellectual and aesthetic impulses that continue to emanate from this episode to this day.

The exhibition space presents an essay exploring questions surrounding the history of Robotron, which are also relevant for understanding our technology-driven present. It sheds light on the connections between geopolitics and the global market, crisis-ridden planned production in the GDR, and the role of an international economic embargo, challenging common perceptions that have become entrenched in the narrative of a “socialist” past.

A collaborative project between HMKV Hartware MedienKunstVerein Dortmund and the Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst (GfZK) Leipzig

The exhibition, entitled “Robotron. Code and Utopia,” will be on view at the GfZK in Leipzig from October 25, 2025, to February 22, 2026.