The project "Meet the Memory Person" (Der Erinnerungsmensch) was initiated in 2022 as the result of an open call for art in public space. The sought-after artwork was expected to commemorate local cultural practitioners who were forced into exile during the Nazi regime in Munich. Traditional monuments are rarely polyphonic when they commemorate this part of history, if they address it at all.

In this sense, the collaborative project "Meet the Memory Person" is a counter-monument. What makes it unique is its temporary performative presence in public space: acting as a living figure, “The Memory Person” is enacted by different project participants. They engage in spontaneous, low-threshold interactions with passersby, leading to unforeseen encounters. In this way, the project collects and preserves stories from people whose life realities are as diverse as urban society itself, spanning all age groups, social classes, and cultural backgrounds.

The stories collected are not just told; they are transformed into artistic memory contributions. These are created both spontaneously from these initial or renewed encounters and in the course of workshops open to the public via calls for participation. In the workshops, artists and non-artists explore how they can give shape to personal memories, and what it means for them to become part of the public sphere. 

The memory contributions are presented in the "Open Archive" online, in an expandable catalog, and in the course of curated city walks. During these walks, past and present experiences of exile and migration are brought into dialogue. Together with the audience, "The Memory Person" visits sites whose histories of migration and exile are currently invisible in the streets, such as former forced labor camps or locations connected to the history of Gastarbeiter:innen (guest workers).