Until well into the 1980s, mass gymnastics events were very popular in the countries of the so-called “Eastern Bloc”. The idea of mass public gymnastics was already developed in the 19th century by the German patriot Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, who later became known as a “gymnastics teacher”. Only in socialism, however, did the mass synchronicity of the gymnasts fit perfectly into the political system: the individual is only perfect as part of the collective and the collective is only perfect if each individual is. It is therefore no wonder that mass gymnastics was enthusiastically promoted in many countries of real socialism: in Romania, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, China, Russia and of course also the GDR, where the “Turn und Sportfest Leipzig” enjoyed great popularity until its last performance in 1989. The last country where comparable events are still taking place today is North Korea’s “hermit kingdom” and my photo series about the Arirang Massgames in Pyongyang, one of the few that exist. I’m happy every time someone stumbles over it and makes something of it.