Bilder, Dokumente, Artefakte

At the heart of the exhibition entitled 40 Years of FOTOHOF – Pictures, Documents, Artefacts are forty selected artworks highlighting FOTOHOF’s exhibition activities, representing a cross-section of all the artefacts presented since its founding. Indeed, each exhibition year features an exhibit from that time. The collection of photographs provide an aphoristic insight into how the medium of photography has evolved and been mediated from the early 1980s through to the present. Alongside a brief history of FOTOHOF itself, it also illustrates pivotal phases in the evolution of photography as an artistic medium, from erstwhile marginal phenomenon to emancipated art form in its own right.
Of particular importance for the detailed presentation of FOTOHOF’s timeline is the document database created during the anniversary year, which is to be shown to the public as part of the exhibition. It offers comprehensive access to all the testimonies that have emerged over forty years of uninterrupted exhibition activity and art education. Visitors now have the opportunity to interact with this digital project as they delve into the history of FOTOHOF and to find out more about all the documents, exhibition texts, press photos, and selected correspondence with the artists themselves.

A selection of testimonies on FOTOHOF’s own history that are featured at the exhibition “40 Years of FOTOHOF – Pictures, Documents, Artefacts“ is rounded off by the posters and invitation cards from 400 exhibitions.
The 40th anniversary exhibition showcases how FOTOHOF has evolved from its early beginnings as a small backyard gallery to its present status as a centre for photography that operates at both the national and the international level.