We pay more attention today to issues like gender equality, structural racism or sexism, and they are now being publicly discussed. This is quite a challenge, as the contexts are rather complex and there is a dearth of firm guidelines or rules. A lot of it is controversial and feelings can often run high. Despite this – or for this very reason, in fact – it is crucial that we engage with our use of language. After all, we are influenced by language, in our thinking and in how we perceive the world.

That is why we have launched the project “Words matter!”. Whenever one of our visitors draws our attention to a dated or discriminatory phrase in the exhibition, we mark it with a red sticker. Visitors can then find more information about the offending term by scanning the QR code on the sticker.

The project aims to visualise changes in our language and how we use it. We want to discuss problematic phrases and are committed to making our language multifaceted, inclusive and non-discriminatory.

Help us to raise language awareness: red stickers can also be used to mark inappropriate or discriminatory phrases in public spaces. They are available from our museum front desk.

Click on this link to read about the phrases in our exhibition that have been objected to so far.