Julian Rosefeldt’s Global Soap project is a vast collection of soap opera images archiving housewives’ favourites from all over the globe. Highlighting the TV template of formulaic plotlines and fluency in the universal language of schmaltz, Rosefeldt’s Soap photos present multiple panels of characters playing out identikit roles. Cropped to the format of actor’s publicity shots, the groupings of Rosefeldt’s subjects read like multi-national casting calls for archetypal villains and victims.


Within Rosefeldt’s project issues of racial and national difference give way to the fashion of globalised sameness. The perception of ‘other’ is removed from ethnic preconception with each figure identified through their familiar dramatic parts rather than their outward appearance. As rows of characters shake fingers and scowl, wave hands with indignation, or gesture in false modesty, Rosefeldt trades the habits of cultural assumption for the altogether more alluring indulgence in titillation and melodrama.