15 June 2020

CONTINENT – In Search of Europe
An exhibition by OSTKREUZ – Agentur der Fotografen and Akademie der Künste

2 October 2020 – 10 January 2021, opening on Thursday, 1 October Press preview on Tuesday, 29 September, 11 am, Pariser Platz

From 2 October 2020 to 10 January 2021 the Akademie der Künste will present CONTINENT – In Search of Europe, a thematic joint exhibition put on by all members of OSTKREUZ – Agentur der Fotografen. It inaugurates this year’s EMOP Berlin: European Month of Photography and the EMOP Opening Days, opening on 1 October 2020. The exhibition, held on Pariser Platz, is conceived as an artistic and political statement on the current state of Europe, which it will critically examine in 22 positions.

The OSTKREUZ agency’s anniversary exhibition is a declaration of love for Europe. The photographers’ projects explore various aspects of coexistence in Europe, shedding light on personal, societal and political phenomena as well as fundamental structures and historical developments. They find access to complex subject matter through their pictures of people and the environment in which they live. At the same time, they put their finger in the wound of this utopia – the cosmopolitan international community we call Europe. The themes of their work range from issues of identity and security to re-nationalisation, migration and integration, call into question our understanding of humanism, democracy and freedom of expression. This variety of perspectives invites the viewer to engage in dynamic and complex reflection and aims to offer fruitful impulses for the current debate on the future of Europe.

From OSTKREUZ’s statement about the exhibition: “How will our continent develop; how will its people live together? What role do we have in this, we as the plurality of me? We, the Europeans, we, the Germans, we who think we are progressive and open-minded? And what about those whom we think are not – what about the others?
Europe is a community thrown together by fate; we cannot simply dissolve it. The word continent is derived from the Latin continere, which means connected, sticking together. But is this continent a union of individualists who stand in solidarity with one another – or just a bunch of nations? A doomed idea? And what will happen if the concept fails? As much as we sometimes doubt and despair about the particularities of this community: our project is not, has never been, objective. It is dedicated to humanism, to peaceful cooperation.”

OSTKREUZ – Agentur der Fotografen was established by seven photographers in 1990, just after the wall fell, in East Berlin, in a Germany that had not yet undergone unification. Today, thirty years later, OSTKREUZ is Germany’s most renowned collective of photographers. Its 23 members have received numerous awards for their independent stance and signature styles. Their images have been featured in national and international exhibitions, magazines and journals.

Participating artists:
Jörg Brüggemann, Espen Eichhöfer, Sibylle Fendt, Johanna-Maria Fritz, Annette Hauschild, Harald Hauswald, Heinrich Holtgreve, Tobias Kruse, Ute Mahler, Werner Mahler, Dawin Meckel, Thomas Meyer, Frank Schinski, Jordis Antonia Schlösser, Ina Schoenenburg, Anne Schönharting, Linn Schröder, Stephanie Steinkopf, Mila Teshaieva, Heinrich Voelkel, Maurice Weiss, Sebastian Wells and Sibylle Bergemann (1941–2010)

CONTINENT – In Search of Europe is curated by Ingo Taubhorn. A series of 22 podcasts will offer an acoustic complement to the exhibited photographs and are expected to be released in July.
The exhibition is supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Senate Department for Culture and Europe and the Society of Friends of the Akademie der Künste.

Exhibition dates
CONTINENT – In Search of Europe
An exhibition by OSTKREUZ – Agentur der Fotografen and Akademie der Künste
Exhibition duration: 2 October 2020 to 10 January 2021
Tue – Sun 11 am – 7 pm, Thur 11 am – 10 pm
Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin
Tickets € 9/6, free admission for under 19s + free admission during EMOP Opening Days
Tickets: Tel. 030 20057-1000, ticket@adk.de, www.adk.de/tickets

Exhibition opening: Thursday, 1 October
European Month of Photography (EMOP): 1 to 31 October, citywide at over 100 locations
EMOP Opening Days: 2 to 4 October with panel discussions, artist talks, book presentations, photo films, guided tours of the exhibition by OSTKREUZ photographers and the curator
Panel discussion: 12 November 2020
Reading I Am Europe by and with Falk Richter: 7 January 2021

Exhibition catalogue: CONTINENT – In Search of Europe, Ingo Taubhorn and OSTKREUZ – Agentur der Fotografen (eds.), Stuttgart: Hartmann Books, 2020, around € 35

Press images at: https://www.adk.de/de/presse/pressematerial.htm