Animating 'The Kiss' with pride

In May-June 2023, eight participants took part in the first ever Online Creative Residency from Europeana’s Digital Storytelling Festival. They worked with mentors in animation, social media stories and new writing relating to LGBTQ+ culture and communities. Marina Schilke animated Peter Behrens 'The Kiss'. Enjoy her animation and find out more about Marina below.

About the animator

Who am I?

My name's Marina and I'm from Frankfurt, Germany. Growing up with a Japanese mother and German father my interest in different cultures and perspectives was strengthened and encouraged from an early age.

I recently completed my masters in empirical cultural studies in Germany and my masters in museum studies via distance learning in the UK. Currently I am starting a traineeship in a museum. Interested in everything digital (web,VR, AR, social media) my focus will be on digital projects in exhibitions and mediation.

Why did I apply to the Digital Storytelling Online Creative Residency?

The residency combined my desire to learn something new about storytelling and my interest in digital mediation. The animation course gave me an insight into Adobe fresco and the opportunity to learn from an animation specialist on a 1:1 basis. As a beginner, the ambition to create various storylines motivated me, but my big dreams of creating numerous stories was slowed down a bit by my lack of experience. I found the whole digital residency pretty wholesome and was happy to meet other motivated people.

What have I got out of the residency?

I applied specifically for the animation course, as I was interested in learning something visual and dynamic. Animations can be used in various ways by adding onto social media campaigns, educational content or as entertainment. It was very fun to comb through the Europeana collections and objects.

I choose to incorporate the colours of the (progress) pride flag and reinterpret the existing objects and pictures. Besides my search for rainbows and different colourful displays, I looked at public displays of affection and pride. You can find some highlights of my search in my gallery Colourful display of affection.

Many stories were waiting to be told, such as my chosen object 'Der Kuss' (The Kiss) from Peter Behrens. The original has pretty moderate colours and radiates a calm and intimate energy. My interpretation was made to celebrate the love between people of all genders and used a colourful visualisation of the feelings.

Where might I go from here?

I will surely participate in the Europeana GIF IT UP competition and try to develop my skills further.