European Month of Photography Berlin
dal 17/10/2012 al 24/11/2012
Segnalato da
17/10/2012
European Month of Photography Berlin
Different venues, Berlin
5th edition. The festival once again presents a broad spectrum of exhibitions and events that address this year's theme 'The View of the Other' from various perspectives and in doing so highlight a variety of thematic and medial aspects: topics such as the construction of identity, exoticisation, colonialism, voyeurism, reflections on the familiar and the alien and much more.
From October 19 to November 25, 2012, the European Month of Photography
Berlin (Europäischer Monat der Fotografie Berlin – MdF Berlin) will once again attract local and
international attention to the German capital as a photo metropolis. Organized by Kulturprojekte
Berlin GmbH, the MdF has been held in Berlin since 2004. From initially 83 institutions with 93
exhibits and 135,000 visitors, the participation has increased to over 120 partners who, in 2010,
presented over 140 exhibitions and 250 events committed to historic and contemporary
photography, which attracted more than half a million visitors. Since February 15, 2012, Katia
Reich is the curator of the festival. In its fifth edition in 2012, MdF Berlin will present selected
exhibitions and events in museums, galleries, cultural institutions and photography schools in
Berlin and Potsdam around the theme “The View Of The Other”.
International migration is a central phenomenon of the currently rapidly changing world order. For
political, economic or social reasons people become modern nomads, which forces them to
constantly deal with the "foreign" or “alien” – the "other" in relation to their own identity. Due to the
unlimited mobility of people, goods and commodities the "foreign" and the "familiar" tend to be less
and less separable from one another - their socio-political dependencies even seem to be
reenforced. On the other hand, “The View Of The Other” always also implicits a separation, an
isolation, while the act of viewing constitutes the transgression of a boundary. It is the beginning of
a reflection and part of our everyday perception, documentation and instrumentalization. The
media and their channels, including the social networks, support this process: unfiltered and in real
time, we produce, distribute, manipulate and consume images in all sorts of ways and thus
constantly contribute to the manifold descriptions of the world.
Under the direction of the new curator Katia Reich, the jury selected round 100 participants and exhibitions from the over 150 applications received. The jury consisted of Florian Ebner (Museum für Photographie Braunschweig e.V.), Matthias Harder (Helmut Newton Foundation), Felix Hoffmann (C/O Berlin), Gereon Sievernich (Martin-Gropius-Bau) and Christiane Stahl (Alfred Erhardt Stiftung).
Through the selection of participants, the photographer’s exhibitions will enter into a "dialogue"
with one another and thus reflect the nature of our current society, or societies.
In 2012, the exhibition project DistURBANces will take place alongside our partner’s exhibitions.
This project was jointly developed by a European network in Bratislava, Budapest, Ljubljana,
Luxembourg, Paris and Vienna (EMOP). It will have its own thematic focus in each host city.
Parallel to the partners’ exhibitions, a festival centre will serve as a meeting place and an
exhibition and event venue during the enitre run of the festival. A program of lectures, portfolio
sightings, performative mediation formats and an awards ceremony will give a new impetus.
The Festival Centre is located in the former Museum The Kennedys directly at Brandenburger Tor. Here, the exhibition Cairo. Open City – New Testimonies from an Ongoing Revolution, which has been given new accents for its presentation in Berlin, is presented, a collaboration with the Museum für Photographie Braunschweig. Furthermore, the festival catalogue and the catalogues accompanying the exhibitions Cairo. Open City and distURBANces as well as information materials on the exhibitions of partners are available here. With a framework program of lectures, podium discussions, lecture performances and talks, further thematic points will be emphasised in the Festival Centre.
Image: Julius Steffens, Superheld, 2011 © Julius Steffens Bobsairport
The 5th European Month of Photography Berlin is a project of Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH
www.kulturprojekte-berlin.de
Press contact European Month of Photography Berlin
Achim Klapp, Tel. +49 30-25 79 70 26, info@achimklapp.de
Press contact Kulturprojekte Berlin
Dr. Gabriele Miketta, Tel. +49 30-24 74 97 32, g.miketta@kulturprojekte-berlin.de
Former Museum The Kennedys
Pariser Platz 4A - 10117 Berlin (Mitte)
Hours: Tue - Sun 11 - 19 h