C/O Berlin Talents 2015

Talents 31-35

Talents 31

Iveta Vaivode / Jule Hillgärtner

Pilcene, Latvia. A small village, which seems forgotten by time. A place that evokes our own memories, even if we have never been there. Crystal clear lakes, huge bales of hay, fly agaric in woodland clearings, wooden huts covered by deep snow, colourfully decorated living rooms and their inhabitants. In the photographs by the Latvian photographer Iveta Vaivode, the main focus is not only on immediacy and accompanying documentation but also on the intentional portrayal of a specific ambience—a very natural, life in the countryside, one that scarcely exists today. So idyllic that the images appear almost orchestrated ...

Talents 32

Emanuel Mathias / Sabine Weier

Proud activists, completed annual targets, vacation greetings from the GDR, illustrious workers’ collective celebrations, Vietnam collections, and friends from Mozambique—Socialist workers’ brigade journals give a unique insight into everyday life of normal working people in “real existing Socialism”. These historical documents show, in words and pictures, how workers’ collectives developed, at the intersection between government-ordered depiction and mundane, private events. Emanuel Mathias selected around 50 pages from 85 Socialist workers’ brigade journals kept by workers at the Leipzig cotton mill between 1961 and 1989, then modified and recombined them anew ...

Talents 33

Marc Beckmann / Sarah Alberti

D-Day, Prague Spring, the Islamic Revolution, Srebrenica, 9/11, the Battle of Verdun, the capitulation of Saigon—these historic events have left an indelible imprint on the collective memory of people worldwide. Every year, the memories of the past are kept alive on specific dates, often with celebrations and public rituals. But why? For nations, political communities, and ideological movements, the anniversaries of historic events serve as important monuments of an age and affirmations of a specific identity ...

Talents 34

Krzysztof Pijarski / Annika K. Kuhlmann

“No respite, history is being made. Forgetfulness is spreading. We’re making progress!” Fehlfarben, German pop band

Banished heroes, empty pedestals, abandoned squares, demolished memorials—the cities of the former East Block are full of the traces of bygone utopias and political and social transformation. The erstwhile heroes of communism were desecrated, and the once shining idea of socialism was quickly laid to rest ...

Talents 35

David Favrod / Julia Katharina Thiemann

BAOUMMM, ratatatata, viiuuu. The sounds of air raids on Kobe, Japan. In the last seven months of the Second World War, half of the city was destroyed. Incendiary and cluster bombs wreaked untold damage and claimed thousands of civilian lives. Food, water, and energy supplies dwindled and social life collapsed. After the war, and for the decades that followed, there was collective silence: the past was buried, the suffering repressed, and discussion closed off entirely  ...

Jury

Application for this year Talents series is closed. In the beginning of June 2015 a jury will select amongst all submitted works the 4 best pieces to participate in the Talents series. The jury for 2015: Anne-Marie Beckmann (curator collection Deutsche Börse), Swantje Karich (Die WELT, editor-in-chief of the art magazine BLAU), Matthias Harder (curator Newton Foundation), Duncan Forbes (director and curator Fotomuseum Winterthur), Thorsten Brinkmann (artist) und Ann-Christin Betrand (curator C/O Berlin).

The theme of the 2015 Talents Series is Extended Photography. Photography is more than just the one-to-one representation of reality. It has long since established itself as both autonomous image and independent artwork, pushing established boundaries and embracing experimentation. By opening up to sculpture, painting, film, and performance, contemporary photographers and artists are responding to the changing nature of the photographic medium. With the advent of digitalization, photography has become more flexible and fluid, and it is more a part of everyday use than any other art form today. In recent years, a new generation of photographers has begun playfully exploring the boundaries and expanding the classical understanding of photography. This year’s Talents Series is responding to this new development by giving them a visible platform!