Barbara Loftus: A Disinheritance

The exhibition “Eine Enterbung” is the result of an artistic exploration, ongoing since 1994, by British painter and filmmaker Barbara Loftus into the earlier life of her mother, Hildegard.

– Barbara Loftus: Der Antrag / The Application, 2021

The exhibition “Eine Enterbung” at the Haus am Lützowplatz (HaL) is the result of an artistic exploration, ongoing since 1994, by British painter and filmmaker Barbara Loftus (b. 1946) of the early life of her mother, Hildegard, née Basch (1915–2007). She escaped the Nazi regime and went into exile in Britain, while her parents and brother were deported to Auschwitz on December 14, 1942, and murdered there.

About her mother’s childhood in Berlin-Schöneberg in the 1920s, about her growing up in the apartment at Lutherstraße 51—which was initially still upper-class (renamed Keithstraße 14 in 1939), about the financial difficulties faced by her grandparents Sigismund and Herta during hyperinflation and the Great Depression, and finally about the massive social exclusion of the Jewish population beginning in 1933, leading to persecution, deportation, and extermination—for decades, the daughter knew nothing specific about any of this.

It was not until the age of 79 that Barbara’s mother, prompted by a chance occurrence, began to speak about this part of her past. Since then, her daughter has devoted herself to this previously hidden family history with remarkable dedication and rigor. Barbara Loftus studied at the Harrow School of Art from 1962 to 1964 and subsequently at the Brighton College of Art from 1964 to 1968. Following several exhibitions and teaching engagements, her mother’s memories—which became accessible starting in 1994—served as a catalyst for new artistic approaches—such as archive-based research or documentary film—and simultaneously became the focal point of a series of works that continues to this day.

Runtime: Fri, 27/03/2026 to Mon, 25/05/2026

Takes place here:

• Haus am Lützowplatz (HaL)