After Sweden, Tallinn and New York, now at last Berlin: in time for this year’s Art Week, Fotografiska opens after four years of development (14.09.2023). With this contemporary museum for photography, art and culture, a new cultural venue is once again being created in the former Kunsthaus Tacheles. The graffiti sprayed on the walls and the old posters in the stairwell will continue to tell old stories – but the photography museum wants to be one thing above all: a place where new ones are born. Spread over five floors, the museum centers its focus on artists who bring current topics into critical dialogue and present new perspectives. It wants to be inclusive – to convey photography and art in an accessible way, to offer a platform to established artists as well as newcomers and to promote discourse about photography and art with workshops, talks and events. For the opening, three exhibitions await you, offering insights into a wide range of topics: Artist Juliana Huxtable‘s exhibition “-Ussyphilia” explores contemporary discourses on gender, ethnicity, identity, queerness and sexuality. Known for her multidisciplinary works, she will again play with the different levels of representations and multispecies personas.
Candice Breitz‘s solo exhibition features the two-channel video installation “Whiteface” as a powerful commentary on questions about race and representation. Found-footage fragments are the starting point of her work. They show how white people talk about “whiteness” – prominent political figures, news anchors, talk show hosts, but also anonymous Youtubers, whom Breitz recreates in her work with various blond wigs. The third exhibition, “Nude,” features photographs and works by thirty artists who explore traditional concepts around the theme of body politics. It is an attempt to redefine boundaries of representation and to question conventional norms – among others, you can expect works by Bodhi Shola, Angélica Dass, Bettina Pittaluga, Denisse Ariana Pérez, Evelyn Bencicova, Julia SH and Lina Scheynius, who will also be present during Berlin Art Week. With the opening exhibitions, Fotografiska demonstrates the inclusivity they promise and desire so much. And Fotografiska is also inclusive when it comes to opening hours: You can visit the museum until 11 p.m. every day – so no need to mourn the summer. A balmy autumn evening packed with culture and inspiration, plus a glass of wine and an (almost) midnight snack in the café bar on the roof terrace – sounds good to me.
Text: Robyn Steffen / Credit: Dana Scruggs; Bettina Pittaluga and Galerie Number; Candice Breitz, Whiteface Mantras, Fotografiska Berlin
Fotografiska, Oranienburger Str.54, 10117 Berlin–Mitte; map
Opening on 14.09.2023 (already fully booked). You can buy tickets for visits from 15.09. here.
@fotografiska.berlin
