Figure, Form is a self-determined counterpart to both artistic as well as social political discourses and understandings of "canon" and sees itself as an ongoing collection of queer/trans excellence and intelligence. Besides a practice of critical rejection, visibility and a formation of community are among the most important goals of the work. Figure, Form treats physicality as a sovereign medium dedicated to self-realization. No distribution for the development of social gender is ascribed to the body per se, gender identity is understood as a performative practice. Thus Figure, Form tests bodily (re)conquests, inscriptions into, and queering of prevailing narratives as a point of reference for future comprehension. The project aims to understand the body as a fluid material and works for un-doings / subversion of hegemonic gazes and a reclaiming of self, body and visibility. On show at Haus der Photographie, Deichtorhallen from 20.02.25 — 17.08.25

According to American historian Ann Laura Stoler, the term aphasia describes the inability to talk about one's past, especially in the context of colonial power relations.Drawing on my family history, which is primarily related to my grandfather, who fought in the fascist army in Ethiopia, I employ participatory archival methods to deal with materials (family photographs, letters, objects, official documents) that belong to what is commonly called a "difficult heritage”. Relating the intimate to the monumental heritage site of Borgo Rizza, built in the 40s by the Entity of Colonization of the Sicilian Latifondo shifts the connection of institutional memory linking it to the personal and the affective, stressing its connection with a violent historical past, not often critically discussed. I mixed my family's narratives with those collected through informal invitations and open calls, and organized site-specific public displays of such items on the modernist architecture, activating and reworking the materials individually or in collaboration with others through workshops, exhibition and live-painting projections.

Exercises in dealing with histories that, being located in our proximity and intimate sphere of affection, reveal the normalization of ideology and oppressive systems of power among people. Making possible connections between local histories and collective memories, and bringing the discussion from a verbal to a visual level, this work problematizes my and many others' grandfathers' involvement in the fascist regime in Italy and in colonial settlements, activating and putting in connection intimate archives, proposes strategies that can lead to healing processes, collective discussions and shared counter-narratives.

Borders are more than physical barriers—they shape identities, fracture communities, and erase collective memory. In the South Caucasus, fortified boundaries and geopolitical tensions have created a landscape defined by displacement and uncertainty. Through her long-term project "Between the Trees" (2019–2024), Ksenia Ivanova delves into the conflict in Georgia and its breakaway regions—Abkhazia and South Ossetia—recognized by most of the world as Georgian territories under Russian occupation.Amid rising protests against Russia's influence, "Between the Trees" explores how conflict fractures land, family legacies, and underscores the struggles of displaced communities to reclaim their heritage.

Since the reunification in 1990, over 200 people died because of right-wing violence in Germany. Over 200 street corners, residential buildings, and recreational areas. Over 200 fates that briefly make it into the press and of which we as a society briefly take note of and then forget again. Where are these places? Do we pass by these places day after day without being aware of their significance? Is there anything left to remind us of the victims and the crimes that often made national headlines? Or are the fates lost in everyday triviality? Julius Schien addresses these questions in his project »Rechtes Land«. He devotes himself to over three decades of right-wingviolence in Germany in order to show how deeply rooted right-wing crimes still are in Germany, creating a hitherto unique visual catalogue of these crime scenes in the process.

The empty stages take over, on which these acts of right-wing violence took place. In deserted large-format photographs and their accompanying texts, the stories of more than 200 victims of right-wing extremism are being told, in the hope of getting people to look and engage with cases of right-wing violence. Many of thecases took place over 20, sometimes 30 years ago and are regularly missing from the collective memory of our society. It is the interlude between the photographs of these places, often trapped in their banality, and the accompanying texts that is intended to make people think and look.The goal is to photographically document all the places where people have lost their lives to right-wing extremism since 1990 and to create a unique reference work of these fates and their locations. The intentions behind this are clear: to create a greater awareness of right-wing extremism in our society and to enter into a dialog with people who want to inform themselves. Above all of this is the recognition of those people who have lost their lives through right-wing violence.

Germany has once again an immense problem with right-wing extremism. Right-wing ideas, anti-democratic sentiments and right-wing extremist violence are once again present at all levels of our society.It is time to take a closer look.

A prison is a microcosm of power in which the control and discipline of inmates are central aspects. Power relations are established there through surveillance, norms and social hierarchies, resulting in a constant state of violence. This not only creates physical barriers, but also reproduces social orders that reflect the power structures of society. It is striking to note that 94% of the inmates are men.

“Räume, die” was created in collaborative work with the prison inmates. Through dialogues about structural dynamics, we tried to pinpoint male behavior in these structures. We used the personal experiences and feelings of the inmates as a basis to create images and re-enact situations. Our main aim was to highlight situations that often did not receive the attention they needed.

With Echo, I continue my long-standing inquiry into corporeality as a volatile terrain of political and aesthetic negotiation. Within photographic, performative and installation formats, my work deals with the body as a construct, material and representative within social orders. The work comprises a total often camera setups, which are to be installed as a 3-channel projection in the space as well as brought together in the form of a book. Since its invention, photography has not only depicted identities, but actively co produced them. Echo positions itself against the traditional notion of a clear photographic subject and makes the power structures of portraiture negotiable. As a trans* body, I find myself in a constant balancing act between internalised and projected politics of gazes. Photography is understood not only as a means of representation, but also as an active agent in the production of cultural meaning. On this basis, Echo examines the role of photography in the (de)construction of traditional identity categories in order to develop pluralistic perspectives on individual and collective identity. The project thus operates at the intersection of photography history, media theory and gender studies. A technical setup consisting of three synchronised cameras enables a critical reassessment of classical photo theory and connects it with contemporary discourses on the body, power, politics of visibility and self-determination. In the process of critical consciousnes(1), Echo allows the self-portrait to become a place where mechanisms of being seen are critically examined and transformed into self-determined, transformative practice(2). Instead of a linear operator-referent-spectator triangle, a simultaneous, plural and fluid image space emerges. The image does not show ‘who I am’ but rather makes visible the conditions under which an ‘I’ is produced and seen in the first place. Echo thus creates a diagram of relations as a visual metaphor for the fact that identity is always mediated by the media and visibility is a space of negotiation. ___ (1) Conscientização, Paulo Freire (2) "Self-attributions and external attributions go hand in hand here; however, the participants never fa" into the temptation of viewing the social game as natural and thereby fixing certain identities.“ Stiegler, 2024