The Shuttered Society

The Berlinische Galerie owns one of the largest and most important collections of artistic photography of the GDR. Twenty years after the Wall, "The Shuttered Society" identified traditions and trends while illustrating shifts in visual idiom and theme. Did this branch of photography develop its own artistic language, and if so, how did this language evolve over the decades? And what position do these works take toward conventional images and the predominant patterns of thinking of that time?
The exhibition featured works of commissioned photography and fashion photography, as well as examples of journalistic, postcard and advertising photography. The organizers presented around 250 works taken between 1945 and 1989 by 34 photographers. The exhibition was supplemented by a publication and a diverse programme of accompanying events, including a symposium, lectures and discussions.

Artistic directors: Ulrich Domröse, T. O. Immisch, Gabriele Muschter, Uwe Warnke
Artists: Ursula Arnold, Tina Bara, Sibylle Bergemann, Christian Borchert, Micha Brendel, Kurt Buchwald, Lutz Dammbeck, Klaus Elle, Arno Fischer, Thomas Florschuetz, Ernst Goldberg, Klaus Hähner-Springmühl, Matthias Hoch, Edmund Kesting, Fritz Kühn, Matthias Leupold, Ulrich Lindner, Karl Heinz Mai, Sven Marquardt, Roger Melis, Florian Merkel, Peter Oehlmann, Helga Paris, Manfred Paul, Richard Peter sen., Evelyn Richter, Jens Rötzsch, Rudolf Schäfer, Michael Scheffer, Erasmus Schröter, Gundula Schulze-Eldowy, Maria Sewcz, Ulrich Wüst