A handcrafted Canadian Liberation Guitar, created to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Canadian liberation of the Netherlands (1945–2025), presented to Frank Mehring at the Freedom Museum in Groesbeek (Netherlands).
Mehring's work is informed by foci on intermediality in popular culture and cultural mobility in transatlantic contexts. The CD Poe-Attic-Lies-Sense (1999)[5] emerged from his book on Sight & Sound with poems of English and American Romanticism set to music, followed by recordings of Dutch liberation songs in the book on Soundtrack van de Bevrijding (Soundtrack of Liberation)[6] (2015), also published as video clips as part of the Canadian Tulips Festiva l.[7] Concerts with pianist Jens Barnieck,[8] with whom he produced the sound installation The Mexico Diary based on diary entries by Winold Reiss.[9] Other biographical projects focus on Antonia Brico (June 26, 1902 – August 3, 1989), the first conductor from the Netherlands, and on the band Van Halen, whose roots lie in Amsterdam and Nijmegen. In commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Canadian liberation and in recognition of his efforts to preserve the soundtrack of liberation,[10] Frank received a handcrafted Canadian Liberation Guitar from Richard Thain at the Freedom Museum in Groesbeek. The instrument serves as a sonic ambassador, enabling him to convey the history of lost and regained freedom through his musical performances.[11]
Mehring wrote the German biography of the German-American freedom fighter and abolitionist Charles Follen (2004)[12] and published a selection of Follen's works in 2007.[13] He helped erecting a commemorative plaque in the city of Romrod where Follen was born.[14][15] In Berlin, he organized the first international symposium on the German-American artist, teacher and designer Winold Reiss at the Free University of Berlin.[16] He published an overview of Reiss's work in the book The Multicultural Modernism of Winold Reiss (1886–1953) – (Trans)National Approaches to his Work (2022.)[17]
Together with Tatiani Rapatzikou and Stefan L. Brandt, he founded the journal AmLit (American Literatures)[18] and the EAAS Digital Studies Network.[19] Mehring volunteers as director of the Museum Forum Arenacum on the subject of art, culture and history in the Lower Rhine region.[20] Since 2024, Frank Mehring has served as the President of the Netherlands American Studies Association (NASA). In this role, he oversees the organization's efforts to promote interdisciplinary research, academic collaboration, and cultural exchange between the Netherlands and the United States. [21] Frank is a co-founder of the Digital Studies Network at the European Association for American Studies (EAAS)[22] and of the peer-reviewed online journal American Literatures (AmLit).[23] He is an active member of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation[24] and serves as a regional leader of the German Atlantic Association (Deutsche Atlantische Gesellschaft e.V.[25]).
Publications (selection)
As author
Sight & Sound: Naturbilder in der Englischen und Amerikanischen Romantik. Tectum-Verlag, Marburg 2001 [with CD], ISBN3-8288-8324-9
Sphere Melodies: Die Manifestation Transzendentalistischer Ideen in der Musik von Charles Ives und John Cage. Metzler, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN978-3-476-45311-2[26]
The Democratic Gap: Transcultural Confrontations of German Immigrants and the Promise of American Democracy. Winter, Heidelberg 2014, ISBN978-3-8253-6170-9[27]
De Soundtrack van de Bevrijding: Swingen, Zingen en Dansen op Weg naar Vrijheid. Vantilt, Nijmegen, 2015. ISBN9789460042201 [with CD].[28]
Songs of Liberation in the Netherlands: The Transatlantic Soundtrack of Freedom. Amsterdam: AUP, 2025. ISBN978-9-048570218[29]
Between Natives and Foreigners. Selected Writings of Karl/Charles Follen (1796–1840). With an introduction by Frank Mehring. (New Directions in German-American Studies) Lang, New York 2007, ISBN978-0-8204-9732-7
Transcultural Spaces: Challenges of Urbanity, Ecology, and the Environment in the New Millennium. With Winfried Fluck, Stefan Brandt. Narr, Tübingen 2010.
Sound and Vision: Intermediality and American Music. With Erik Redling. In European Journal of American Studies. 12 (4 ), 2017, ISSN 1991-9336doi:10.4000/ejas.12384
The Multicultural Modernism of Winold Reiss (1886–1953) – (Trans)National Approaches to his Work. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin 2022.[17]ISBN978-3-422-98052-5[31]
Frank Mehring serves as the honorary museum director of the Museum Forum Arenacum in Rindern. The museum, with a focus on Roman and Franconian history, is a vital center for understanding the formative years of artist Joseph Beuys. Under Mehring's guidance, the museum has initiated the "art and climate change" project which uses art to read landscape through an ecological lens.[32]
In 2021, Mehring initiated the photographic landscape installation Beuys Land,[33] featuring the work of German-American photographer Gerd Ludwig, to explore the connection between art and climate change in the unique natural landscape of Beuys' youth between Kleve in Germany and Nijmegen in the Netherlands.
Exhibitions (selection)
2021: Joseph Beuys: Kindheit und Jugend in Rindern, Forum Arenacum, Rindern[34]
2021: Bäume, Beuys & Brüx. Forum Arenacum, Rindern[35]
2022: Retro: Von Brüx bis Brüx 1902–2002, Forum Arenacum, Rindern[36]
2023: Industrie-Fotografie: Josef Hintzen, Forum Arenacum, Rindern[37]
2023: Resonanz: Fritz Poorten – Wasserburg-Kapelle in Rindern[38]
2024: The Liberation 80 Years Ago - From Market Garden to the Rhineland Offensive[39]
2025: The Van Halen Story: From Nijmegen Roots to Global Success[40]
Since becoming a museum director, Frank Mehring has played a key role in publishing several works that bridge local art history, cultural studies, and transatlantic relation enriching both scholarly discourse and public engagement with cultural heritage. His publications feature collaborations with internationally renowned photographers such, as well as acclaimed illustrators and artists. In 2025, Mehring appeared in the ARTE documentary ''Der mystische Rhein von Joseph Beuys'', discussing the cultural and environmental legacy of the artist.[41]
Publications
Frank Mehring, Kurt Kreiten (Hrsg.): Die Wasserburg Rindern im Wandel der Zeit: Jagdschloss, Gefechtsstand und Bildungsstätte. Kleve, 2020. ISBN978-3-981793277[42]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
