Who We Are is a digital, interactive exhibition that gives autochthonous minorities a stage. The focus is on people who live in the German-Danish-Frisian border region and in other regions of Europe - with their languages, stories, memories, differences and strengths. Many of them have belonged to minorities for generations, but are only marginalized in public perception. Who We Are is a place where they can introduce themselves: in short video portraits, photos, texts and audio contributions that show their view of identity, belonging, everyday life and culture.

The project is supported by the Minority Competence Network Schleswig-Holstein / Southern Denmark e. V. (MKN), a non-profit association based in the German-Danish-Frisian border region. The network brings together organisations of the German, Danish and Frisian minorities and Sinti and Roma, as well as educational and research institutions, municipalities and regions. Together, they work to make experiences from minority and majority societies visible, develop new forms of exchange and open up the border region as a space for learning and encounters.

On the Who We Are online platform, members of minorities can submit their own contributions - such as selfie videos, short stories, photos with text or other media forms. An interactive map, the so-called story map, locates these stories geographically and makes visible how diverse minority reality is across national borders. The digital exhibition is complemented by professionally produced video documentaries and a podcast series that delve deeper into individual topics and bring people from different minorities into conversation with each other. In this way, a growing archive is gradually being created that not only conveys knowledge, but also creates proximity.

Who We Are thrives on participation. The platform is open to new voices, new perspectives and new stories. Anyone who is part of a minority themselves or feels connected to a minority is invited to upload their own contribution and help shape the exhibition - with a video, a photo, a text or in a completely unique form.

Alongside the digital platform, an analogue, modular exhibition is being developed that presents content from Who We Are on roll-ups and other elements and is directly linked to the online exhibition via QR codes. It can be used in museums, schools, conference centres, cultural centres or at events, thus building a bridge between the screen and the space for encounters. If you would like to bring the analogue exhibition to your location – for an event, for your exhibition spaces, an educational programme or your own project – please feel free to contact us at moin@who-we-are.org.

The project was funded by the Federal Ministry of the Interior following a decision by the German Bundestag.

Some of the contributions were created during an event/seminar project in collaboration with the Youth of European Nationalities (YEN).