With her guitar on her back, the blonde musician leans casually against the colorful chimney. Thin smoke rises from it. Chemnitz students have named their wooden figure "Empowerella", which is reminiscent of Nina Kummer from the indie pop band "Blond". She is one of four creations with which they want to shake up the dominance of smokers in traditional Erzgebirge handicrafts. To this end, the students are focusing on women and marginalized groups.
Anyone who looks at their Christmas decorations at home will quickly notice: Women are very underrepresented among the incense figures, explained cultural scientist Melanie Hühn. In her master's seminar at Chemnitz University of Technology, the students initially dealt with topics such as tradition, gender, stereotypes and representation. They visited museums and folk art workshops. They then worked more intensively with some groups and finally designed their own smoking figures. Their ideas were then implemented by wooden toy maker Markus Weber in Schneeberg.
