Heinrich Drakes "Memento Vietnam"

The sculptor Heinrich Drake (1903-1994) studied in Dresden and Berlin and became known primarily for his bronze portraits and depictions of animals. In the GDR, Drake was for a time secretary of the Visual Arts Section at the Akademie der Künste and a member of the Sculpture Section Management in the Verband Bildender Künstler. These important cultural-political offices enabled him to travel extensively in Eastern and Western European countries. In addition, he traveled to the People's Republic of China in 1955 and to North Vietnam in 1958. From 1949-1969, Drake was head of sculpture education at the Hochschule für bildende und angewandte Kunst, Berlin-Weißensee. After his retirement, he worked as a freelance sculptor and created the wood sculpture Memento Vietnam in the early 1970s.

The sculpture is currently in the Brandenburgischen Landesmuseum für moderne Kunst in Frankfurt/Oder. In the video interview, art historian Sophie Thorak talks on site about possible interpretations of the work and Drake's journey to Vietnam.

Sophie Thorak studied art history and classical archaeology in Leipzig, Berlin and Paris. She then worked as a research volunteer at the Lindenau-Museum in Altenburg. Since 2019, she is a staff member and doctoral candidate in the Department of Art History at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg and researches for her dissertation, the global events of the late 1960s in East German art. Her focus is on the Vietnam War.