The starting point for Mondtag’s production was a myth about Maria Callas. To achieve her dream figure, the world famous opera singer is said to have ingested a tapeworm with a glass of champagne. The legend claims that the parasite led to an astonishing weight loss of 50 kilograms
within a short period of time.

Callas’ uncompromising endeavours to shape her appearance according to her ideal vision, and its flipside - the dissolution of her own body - formed the leitmotifs of the exhibition.

A scenic parcours transformed the museum into a stage with winding paths to encounter bordercrossers and doppelgangers, silent rebels and failed existences.

The tapeworm-stage presented works from Kader Attia, Miriam Cahn, Marlene Dumas, On Kawara, Teresa Margolles, Bruce Nauman, Thomas Ruff, Rosemarie Trockel, Andy Warhol and many others as connected parts of an ongoing narration about irritated bodies.