Exhibition view (Work on the left by Dagmar Uhde)
Exhibition view (Work on the right by Dagmar Uhde)
Teresa Reichert during a guided tour to the exhibition
The works by ca 20 photographers who lived and worked in Berlin 1988-2003 were selected
The works by ca 20 photographers who lived and worked in Berlin 1988-2003 were selected
The "Artothek für Soziale Künstlerförderung" was established in West Berlin in 1950 with the aim of supporting artistic production and existence in the difficult post-war times. Financial and material support was given in exchange for art and over the course of the next few decades a was collection of over 15K paintings, drawings, sculptures, photography, installation and even literature and poetry pieces was created. The artothek partly financed itself through lending of the artworks to the individuals and institutions and although the funding program was stopped in 2003 the Artothek continues to organize events and lend art objects to individuals and organizations.
Beginning of 2015 my colleagues Theresa Reichert, Seunglee Lee and I were invited to explore the photography section of the Artothek that hadn't been previously put on public view. Although the support to the Berlin photographers through the Artothek funds started only in 1988 a huge collection of over 700 pieces was formed. Over the course of three months and under the mentorship of professor Christiane Post from the Institute for Art in Context of the Berlin University of Arts we viewed all the collection items and made a final selection of around 100 photographs that, in our opinion gave a good overview of the state of Berlin art photography between 1988 and 2003 and that we finally exhibited in the Berlin Parliament house from April 2015 to March 2016.
See the exhibition´s blog here.
Exhibition flyer