Creative Board – 3 Generations of Leica – Punk!

26 August 2021 marks the opening of the third edition of Berlin Photo Week (BPW). Following its huge success in 2019 at Kraftwerk Berlin, this year BPW will feature high-profile exhibitions at and around Arena Berlin as well as a number of satellite venues in Berlin, such as the Villa Grisebach exhibition space. Numerous talks and panels, workshops, award ceremonies, and much more are also planned around the exciting brands of the international imaging market. The photography festival will be rounded off by live acts, music acts, the popular Funplace, and engaging outdoor offerings. Long live photography!

To curate and launch this multifaceted festival, the organizers called together an accomplished Creative Board comprised of internationally renowned experts, collectors, and photo industry professionals. These include photography expert and licensed appraiser Simone Klein (Cologne/Paris), collector and art patron P.C. Neumann (Berlin/Zurich), and art director and general representative of Leica Galleries International Karin Rehn-Kaufmann (Salzburg).With their excellent networks and expertise, the BPW Creative Board members perform advisory and curatorial duties and develop new concepts and formats, thereby expanding the globally oriented strategy of this young, prominent festival.

KOELBL • WENDERS • BENDER | Three Photographers – Three Generations
The legendary camera manufacturer Leica is world-renowned for its long tradition, its global and award-winning photographers, and a reputation that is second to none. Whether in the field of reportage, portraiture, or documentary photography – Leica is more than just a brand; Leica is a way of life.
Featuring singular insights into the lives of Germans, poetic and essayistic works going beyond classical notions of the image, opulent reportages far removed from common clichés – this special exhibition has been curated by Karin Rehn-Kaufmann exclusively for Berlin Photo Week. On display at Arena Berlin, it presents the work of three renowned photographers –Herlinde Koelbl, Donata Wenders, and Xiomara Bender – who view the world with very individual perspectives, placing it in their own aesthetic frames. The Leica exhibition includes a number of series by each photographer and is complemented by texts and videos. A talk with the artists will also take place during BPW.

Another exhibition highlight shines the spotlight on punk and its unique aesthetics. More than 50 years ago, the punk movement, with its broad repertoire of protest practices against prevailing conditions, became the catalyst of a social and cultural avant-garde. Punk did not go with the flow; on the contrary, its protagonists released their own flood of energy and ignited a fire that has not extinguished to this day. The notion of radical upheaval it embodies persists to this day, manifesting in multifaceted forms of artistic expression. Curated from the PC Neumann Collection, this dynamic group exhibition invites visitors to the Arena Club for a very special experience. The walk-in installation is enriched by a musical work composed for the show by the well-known music producer Lutz Fahrenkrog-Petersen. Typical of the era, it epitomizes the enduring, explosive power of the artistic aesthetics of punk.Punk is not dead – punk will never die.

In cooperation with IFA Berlin:

IFA, the world’s most significant trade show for consumer and home electronics with a record number of new products being unveiled is the main market place for key retailers, buyers, and experts from the industry and the media. IFA 2021 takes place in Berlin from 3. – 7. September.

With friendly support from: