"A House is a House is a House" - with a motto that takes a close look at various forms of domesticity, living space and neighborhood, the FOTODOKS festival for documentary photography is inviting visitors for the tenth time. The hybrid program presents exciting, contemporary photographers in a varied group exhibition in Munich's Lothringer13 Halle.
And yes, before you ask: the invitation actually means that the Munich Kunsthalle can be entered and visitors can view printed, framed pictures there between June 7 and July 4. Especially after a time characterized by remote working and digital cultural formats, this circumstance is worth a special mention. The FOTODOKS team has designed a sophisticated hygiene concept and will also make the exhibition digitally accessible.
In terms of content, it is also clear that the coronavirus period was characterized by memorable measures. The intimacy of the individual home crystallized anew, was politicized, sometimes turned upside down and examined for its substance. "A House is a House is a House", the motto of the interdisciplinary exhibition, not only refers to what everyone subjectively associates with the feeling of home, but also delves into the collective, contemporary understanding of various ambivalences.
One of these topics, which illustrates the strong elasticity of the term, is femicide. Emine Akbaba 's photographic work takes up the sad figure of 300 women who were murdered by men last year - in each case justified by the fact that the woman deserved to die "because she dresses differently, wants a separation or takes the right to refuse a reconciliation."
The series "Now you see me Moria", which we have already presented to you, shows that "home" often means a shabby dwelling rather than a place of confidence and security. Noelle Mason 's work is also a very touching contribution to the unfathomable paths that many refugees take to reach the supposedly safe European soil: "The image of a child hidden in a suitcase, discovered by an X-ray machine at the Spanish-Moroccan border in 2015, had been imprinted on my mind since I saw it in a British newspaper six years ago," writes author Max Houghton for the FOTODOKS catalog about the series "Backscatter Blueprint".
"Contrary to an idealized perspective on home, it is also associated with precarious living conditions, traditional family images, the danger of violence, homelessness, the denial of belonging, discrimination or loneliness," writes the festival team on its website. But the bizarre, the absurd can also play a role alongside all the disturbing contributions, as Buck Ellison 's work proves. With his clean family photographs, he paints an impressive picture of the milieu of the so-called W.A.S.P. (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants), which could not be in greater contrast to the rest of the series.
Also exhibiting: Dannielle Bowman (US), Cyprien Clément-Delmas & Lindokuhle Sobekwa (FR, ZA), Nanna Heitmann (DE/RU), Sohrab Hura (IN), Jochen Lempert (DE), Drew Nikonowicz (US), Arzu Sandal (DE) and Henk Wildschut (NL). The twelve photo projects, some of which were created over a period of years, complement each other in terms of styles, perspectives and facets; the FOTODOKS team has done wonderful preparatory curatorial work.
A comprehensive catalog has been designed to accompany the exhibition and has been produced to a high standard by our dear partners at F&W Medien. It is free of charge for all visitors and can also be ordered if you would like to delve deeper into the visual and themed worlds.
To the exhibition: FOTODOKS Festival 2021
