Ausländer kommt, Ausländer geht 老外來了，老外走了
(foreigner is coming, foreigner is leaving)
Silkscreen-printed T-shirts; a tag book (8 pages, laser print on paper); dimensions variable

About ten years ago, a photo went viral on the Chinese internet: a white tourist walking down the street wearing a T-shirt that said “老外来了 (The foreigner is coming)” on the front and “老外走了 (The foreigner is leaving)” on the back. Netizens responded with laughter, calling it genius and hilarious. The design quickly spread across Taobao, China’s largest e-commerce platform, becoming a popular item among foreigners living or traveling in China, while the original creator of the shirt remains unknown.
January 2025, I mentioned this T-shirt to some German friends. Half-jokingly, I decided to make a German version of it. To my surprise, it caused a stir. Many of our friends in Germany (most of them, like us, are not German citizens) said they wanted one too. People say it’s provocative. I was also surprised that when I printed the shirt at a local printing shop, the very kind shop-owner expressed her concern: would wearing this shirt in public get me into trouble?
Why is something seen as funny and creative in China considered provocative and even dangerous in Germany? What’s the difference between a non-Chinese person wearing this shirt in China, and a non-German person wearing it in Germany? Why does simply translating and relocating a message change how it’s received? With all these questions in mind, I decided to put this T-shirt into mass production.
The shirt and the person who wears it act like a mirror - they simply reflect the (social) environment of the person wearing it. It’s a shirt that requires courage while also giving courage; a shirt for opening up dialogue and promoting mutual understanding.
Installation view at the show “ Foreign Trade Store” in RADAR, Nov 2025 - Feb 2026, curated by Kiana Tellen
Photo by LWL/Hanna Neander