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The Deutsches Hygiene-Museum in Dresden is currently preparing the special exhibition ‘Freedom/Svoboda/Wolność: An Unfinished Story’. Focusing on the geographical region of Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, the exhibition “Freiheit” explores the historical transformation of concepts of freedom and their relevance to the present day.

The exhibition is divided into three sections, where documents and objects are contextualized alongside works of visual art. The penultimate chapter of the exhibition, titled “Wohlstand” (Prosperity), focuses on the period of upheaval after 1990. Young people in East Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic embraced newly found freedoms and experienced the “wild nineties” as a time of new beginnings. In this context, selected photographs by OSTKREUZ photographers Annette Hauschild and Thomas Meyer will be projected in the exhibition, focusing on the theme of techno culture.

Duration: June 20, 2025 – May 31, 2026

Location: Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden 

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Photo: Annette Hauschild/OSTKREUZ

At the Willy-Brandt-Haus, a selection of over 50 works from the museum’s own collection is on display until the end of June. Sibylle Bergemann is represented with works from her well-known series “Clärchens Ballhaus” and “Mauerpark”, which are part of the exhibition curated under the themes of Transformation and Intervention. The exhibited works range from documenting landscape changes to capturing snapshots of urban life in Berlin, symbolizing the societal transformation since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Duration: Until June 29, 2025

Location: Willy-Brandt-Haus 

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As part of the “Artist Meets Archive” program by the Internationale Photoszene Köln, journalist Nicola Kuhn and OSTKREUZ photographer Anne Schönharting will discuss the topic “Uncomfortable Memories: Confronting a Colonial Family Legacy.” The conversation explores how photography can help uncover hidden traces of colonialism within German families. It raises questions about the role images play in shaping cultural memory—what narratives they preserve or omit—and how artistic perspectives can open new ways of engaging with this often-suppressed heritage.

Anne Schönharting’s award-winning project “Das Erbe” (The Legacy) is the result of years spent researching the estate of her great-grandfather. The photobook of the same name was published by Hartmann Books and received the Gold Medal of the German Photobook Prize in 2021. 

Date: June 5, 2025, 7:00 PM

Location: Library of the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum, Leonard-Tietz-Straße 10, 50676 Cologne

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The Kommunale Galerie at Rathaus Reinickendorf presents Espen Eichhöfer’s 2011 photographic series “The Birth of a Nation” as part of the group exhibition “Touching the Unknown.” The curatorial concept of the show centers on the encounter with the unfamiliar, encouraging engagement with that which lies beyond the known.

When Espen Eichhöfer photographed this series in South Sudan during the first Independence Day celebrations in July 2011, six months had passed since the referendum that led to the country’s founding. Prior to that, the population of the resource-rich South had fought for over twenty years to gain independence from the North—at the cost of thousands of lives and the devastation of vast regions. Yet the peace in the new nation was short-lived: less than two years later, civil war broke out again, and the conflict continues to this day.

Opening: June 4, 2025, at 6:30 PM

Duration: June 5 – September 12, 2025

Location: Kommunale Galerie at Rathaus Reinickendorf 

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Sibylle Bergemann's well-known work “P2” is part of the group exhibition “Typologies. Photography in 20th Century Germany” at the Fondazione Prada in Milan. Bergemann's series “P2”, created between 1974 and 1981, shows the differently furnished living rooms of the same block of flats in an industrially produced prefabricated building in Berlin-Lichtenberg. The abbreviation “P2” stands for a housing series developed in the early 1960s by the Institute for Building Construction at the Bauakademie, which redefined living with open floor plans.

The exhibition brings together more than 600 photographic works by 25 German artists. In addition to Sibylle Bergemann, they include: Bernd and Hilla Becher, Karl Blossfeldt, Ursula Böhmer, Christian Borchert, Margit Emmrich, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Isa Genzken, Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Lotte Jacobi, Jochen Lempert, Simone Nieweg, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter, Heinrich Riebesehl, Thomas Ruff, August Sander, Ursula Schulz-Dornburg, Thomas Struth, Wolfgang Tillmans, Rosemarie Trockel, Umbo and Marianne Wex. 

Duration: until 14.7.25 

More Information: here

Since the beginning of Russia’s illegal war of aggression, Johanna-Maria Fritz has repeatedly traveled to Ukraine to document the unfolding events. In August 2024, as part of the solidarity partnership between Berlin’s Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district and the Darnytsia district in Kyiv, she spent several days on the ground photographing daily life amid the conflict. Her images bear witness to how people, despite great danger, strive to maintain their routines and preserve hope and a sense of normalcy.

To mark the official signing of the city partnership between Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg and Darnytsia—an initiative actively supported and shaped by the organization Be an Angel—Johanna-Maria Fritz’s photographs will be exhibited at the restaurant "Kreuzberger Himmel". The exhibition is curated by Nadine Barth.

Be an Angel advocates for the empowerment of refugees and runs the restaurant at Yorckstraße 89 in Kreuzberg, which is operated by people with refugee backgrounds.

Opening: May 22, 2025, at 6:30 PM, in the presence of Clara Herrmann, District Mayor of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg

Duration: May 23 – July 31, 2025

Location: Restaurant "Kreuzberger Himmel"

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To mark the 75th anniversary of the German Basic Law, the Art Advisory Board of the German Bundestag has invited 19 artists to engage with the fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution. Harald Hauswald was invited to explore Article 8, which guarantees the right to freedom of assembly. His work on this theme is now on view as part of the exhibition “We – 19 Fundamental Rights. 19 Artistic Perspectives. A Space for Dialogue” at Forum Kunst im Bundestag, located in the Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus.

In addition, Harald Hauswald’s “Texas Box” will be on display at the Berlin Wall Memorial of the German Bundestag until early October. The collection includes vintage prints depicting scenes from East Berlin that were originally shown in 1987 in the exhibition “The Other Side of the City”, curated by Neil Coleman at the Pro-Jex Gallery in Austin, Texas. After the gallery closed in 2015, the photographs were stored at the Harry Ransom Center in Texas and, following research conducted by the OSTKREUZ agency, have now returned to Berlin — 37 years later.

Opening: May 21, 2025, 7PM in the presence of the participating artists

Duration: May 22, 2025 – June 21, 2026

Location: Forum Kunst im Bundestag, Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus 

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On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, C/O Berlin is presenting the exhibition “Documentary in Flux”, an overview of the C/O Berlin Talent Award, which has been awarded since 2006 to a tandem of art and theory. Based on 14 exemplary artistic positions selected from a total of more than 90 award winners, the exhibition illustrates how documentary work in photography is in a constant state of flux.

Sibylle Fendt is represented in the exhibition with her (diploma) work “Uneins” from 2002, with which she won the Talent Award at the time. For this work, she portrayed five people who are referred to as “messies”. The photographs take a closer look at these people and their dysfunctional living spaces and at the same time paint a gloomy, dystopian vision of a society that has gone off the rails.

Opening: 23.5.25 

Duration: 24.5. until 17.9.25 

More Information: here

This year's 18th “horizonte” environmental photography festival in Zingst focuses on the theme of “Resources”. The festival exhibition of the same name shows the project “Internet Explorers”, which Heinrich Holtgreve has been realizing together with radio journalist Moritz Metz since the beginning of 2022, in the Panzerhalle / Wellnesscamp Düne 6 over a period of 10 days. Holtgreve and Metz - equipped with cameras and microphones - traveled around Germany together and visited all the places where Germany is physically connected to its neighboring countries in the form of fiber optic cables. As the first product of their joint journey, they have published a podcast in which they share their experiences on site and their expertise.

Duration: 23.5. until 1.6.25 

More Information: here

Thomas Meyer photographed along the former Berlin Wall from 1998 to 2001. At the end of the 1990s, he began photographing the inner-city wastelands in color with a large-format and medium-format camera during the cold season. Over the course of four years, he collected photographs that are not only significant from an urban planning perspective, but also capture moments that hold a great deal of promise.

Galerie Susanne Albrecht on Bleibtreustraße is now showing Thomas Meyer's photographs in a solo exhibition entitled “Mauer Land”.

Opening: 16.5.25, 7 PM 

Duration: 17.5. until 28.6.25 

More Information: here

Ute Mahler and Werner Mahler's series “Monalisen der Vorstädte”, “Wo die Welt zu Ende war”, “Die seltsamen Tage” and fashion pictures created on the Elbe will be on display at the Freiheitshalle in Hof until the end of October in the exhibition “Gemeinsam”. Ute Mahler and Werner Mahler have been working together since 2008 on independent projects in which they address current political and social conditions.

In Berlin, the exhibitions “Ein Dorf 1950-2022. Ute Mahler, Werner Mahler und Ludwig Schirmer” at the Akademie der Künste (until 4.5.) and „Farbenrausch“ at  Galerie Springer (until 19.7.) are still running. 

Marit Lena Herrmann, curator of the exhibition “Ein Dorf”, will give a guided tour of the exhibition at the AdK on Hanseatenweg on Sunday, May 4 at 2 pm.

Duration (exhibtion in Hof): 11.5. until 26.10.25 

More Information: here

The producers' gallery “Altenau 04” in the village of Mühlberg an der Elbe is showing Stephanie Steinkopf's works “Manhattan-Straße der Jugend”, “Vogelfrei” and “Virpi” in a solo exhibition. Steinkopf's long-term projects usually explore the political and social conflicts that affect individuals. Through a process of intimate engagement, the photographer delves into the everyday lives and emotional relationships of her protagonists. Her work invites us to discover, identify and critically question some of the deprivations and prejudices of today's society.

Opening: 4.5.25, 3 PM, Introduction by Christin Müller, freelance curator and author, Leipzig, and accompanying musical program

Duartion: 5.5. until 27.7.25, opening hours by arrangement

Adress: Galerie Altenau 04, im Alten Pfarrhof, Dorfstr. 4, 04931 Mühlberg/OT Altenau

More Information: here

The International Days Ingelheim are showing the group exhibition “Curiosity, Courage and Adventure. Women photographers on their travels”. It presents works by 21 renowned historical and contemporary female photographers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, including Inge Morath, Marianne Breslauer, Helga Paris, Evelyn Richter, Barbara Klemm and OSTKREUZ Anne Schönharting and Jordis Antonia Schlösser.

Jordis Antonia Schlösser is represented in the exhibition with photographs from Iran, Cuba and Poland, while Anne Schönharting's works from Hong Kong and Kyrgyzstan will be on display.

Duration: 4.5. until 13.7.25 

More Information: here

Photo left: Anne Schönharting, photo right: Jordis Antonia Schlösser

The writer Simon Strauß has put together the pop-up exhibition “Neoromanticism” for the Prince Pückler Museum Park and Castle Branitz Foundation in Cottbus. It shows positions from contemporary art that explore the relationship to the old concept of “Romanticism”.

Anne Schönharting is represented with works from her extensive long-term project “Habitat”, for which she portrayed and staged people and their apartments in Charlottenburg over a period of 10 years. The exhibition also features works by Nigin Beck, Lars Eidinger, Erika Hegewisch, Ralph Mecke, Benyamin Reich, Slawomir Elsner and Charlotte Streicher.

Opening: 30.4.25, 6 PM, Schloss Branitz 

Duration: 1.5. until 31.8.25 

More Information: here

The NOW Gallery in Neukölln is showing the exhibition “Zwischen Beton & Boudoir”, organized by sch², which deals with female perspectives on Berlin. The exhibition tells Berlin's history from the perspective of women - using photographs, films and texts that make female spaces, experiences and networks visible. The focus is on topics such as resistance, change and the appropriation of urban spaces beyond masculine narratives. In addition to Annette Hauschild, Emily Dodd-Noble, Ann-Christine Jansson and Maria Monaco are also represented with works.

Opening: 24.4.25 

Duration: 25.4. until 18.5.25 

Adress: NOW Gallery, Hasenheide 54, 10967 Berlin

©Annette Hauschild/OSTKREUZ, Lisa D., Fashion designer, and Fiona Bennett, Hat designer, in the studio in in the former soap factory, Brunnenstraße, Berlin 1993

“Off Foto”, the Mannheim festival for artistic and documentary photography, is showing the exhibition ‘Koexistenz’ with five photographic positions by Sibylle Fendt, Nikita Teryoshin, Aslı Özdemir, Erik Irmer and Jonathan Funk.

The world is currently facing profound upheavals: A shift to the right, social tensions, ecological crises and geopolitical conflicts are overlapping and shaping our everyday lives. “Koexistenz” looks at this area of tension from different angles and will point out systems and mechanisms that all too often remain hidden. In her work “Holzbachtal, Nothing, Nothing”, Sibylle Fendt sheds light on the bleak realities of life for male refugees in the H8 refugee shelter in the deep Black Forest. She portrayed the residents of the accommodation for three years until it was closed at the end of 2018.

Opening: 24.4.25, 7 PM 

Artist Talk with Sibylle Fendt: 25.4.25, 5 PM 

Duration: 25.4. until 15.5.25 

More Information: here

To mark the 100th anniversary of Leica, an exhibition will open each month in a selected Leica Gallery, linking a contemporary talent with one of the Leica Hall of Fame winners and creating a visual dialogue between the past and future of photography through their joint presentation. We are delighted that Johanna-Maria Fritz's work will be presented at the Leica Gallery Munich in dialogue with works by photographer Jürgen Schadeberg (1931-2020), who received the Leica Hall of Fame Award in 2018 for his life's work.

Opening: 17.4.25, 7 PM 

Duration: 19.4. until 12.7.25 

More Information: here 

Annette Hauschild is featured in the pop-up exhibition "Portraits" with her work „Verhüllter Reichstag – die letzte Nacht, Berlin 1995“. The exhibition is organized by Artflash and Paradise Room Berlin at Restaurant VOLK, located at Brunnenstrasse 182 in Berlin-Mitte, and showcases works by 15 renowned international artists, including John Baldessari, A.R. Penck, Louisa Clement, among many others. The exhibition is supported by Kicken Berlin and curated by Ariane Hosemann (Paradise Room).

Opening: 10.4.25, 6 - 9 PM   

Duration: 11.4. until 31.5.25, open daily from 12 PM - 12 AM 

More Information: here

©Annette Hauschild/OSTKREUZ, Verhüllter Reichstag - die letzte Nacht, Berlin 1995 Für den Verhüllten Reichstag: Christo und Jeanne-Claude, Verhüllter Reichstag, Berlin, 1971-95, ©Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation 

The exhibition “There must be a connection between production and war” with works by Johanna-Maria Fritz, Harun Farocki and Violetta Oliinyk is currently on display in the “Red” exhibition space of the berlinbookclub in the Sophie-Gips-Höfe. The exhibition examines the overlaps between technology, work and warfare and explores the contemporary discourse on the use of drones. Works by German filmmaker Harun Farocki (1944-2014) are exhibited in dialogue with those of Violetta Oliinyk (born 1995) from Ukraine and Johanna-Maria Fritz (born 1994), both of whose personal lives have been profoundly affected by war. In this exhibition, Johanna-Maria Fritz is presenting a series of drone images from the war in Ukraine for the first time.

Johanna-Maria Fritz's solo exhibition “Zeit der Umbrüche. Photographs 2014-2024” can be seen at the Willy-Brandt-Haus  only until 25th of May. 

Duration: until 30.6.25 

More Information: here

Linn Schröder's well-known ‘Self-portrait with a breast and twins’ was created in 2012 for the OSTKREUZ exhibition ‘Über Grenzen’ shortly after the birth of her twin daughters. In it, Linn Schröder juxtaposes the paradoxical symbols of life and death on her own body; she herself wears the border on her skin.

The self-portrait will be shown during EMOP Berlin 2025 in the group exhibition ‘Rivalen. Photography vs. Promtography’ at Photo Edition Berlin, which presents works by around 25 renowned artists. It questions the limits and possibilities of conventional photography and AI-generated images.

The exhibition invites visitors to reflect on the changing role of creativity and technology in contemporary image production.

Opening: 1 March, 6-9 p.m.

Duration: 2.3. until 31.10.25

Further information: emop-berlin.eu