BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND

Bundesrepublik Deutschland comprises several maps of Portugal (P), Italy (I), Greece (G) and Spain (S), countries also known as PIGS. Anglo-Saxon economists began using this pejorative acronym to refer to countries with less economic stability in Europe.

Since the beginning of the current economic crisis, PIGS, for different reasons, were the countries within the European Union most affected by it, strongly influencing their GDP, unemployment, welfare state, financial credibility, etc.

As a result, the European Troika: European Central Bank (ECB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Commission (EC) granted so-called economic "bailouts" to some of these countries to consolidate their accounts so they wouldn't go bankrupt. In return, the Troika demonstrated the measures and economic reforms these countries are supposed to undertake in order to meet the goals. The affected countries have an obligation to enforce these guidelines and thus lose a lot of political independence when it comes to domestic policy decisions.

Germany, one of the strongest lenders in these "rescues" has a large presence in the decision of the Troika and therefore a strong presence in the domestic politics of the PIGS.

In "Bundesrepublik Deutschland" the individual PIGS-country's outline is cut out of it's physical map. Inside these outlines and slightly shifted, lie corresponding physical maps of German geography.

Project funded by the Embassy of Spain in Berlin and supported by the Cervantes Institute in Berlin, where it was first exhibited in the exhibition “QUID PRO QUO”, in 2013.