On 12 December 1935, a programme was started in Germany to provide the Third Reich with a new generation of leaders: Lebensborn (Source of Life). SS officers were encouraged to reproduce as much as possible, including out of wedlock. In several Lebensborn homes scattered across West-Europe, (unmarried) women could give birth if they met the requirements of the Aryan race. After the war, the children from these homes and families were often stigmatised, mistreated, and abused. Many grew up wi...

Panama’s aanwezigheid in het collectieve geheugen blijft vaak beperkt tot het beroemde kanaal, de exotische landschappen en de recente politieke geschiedenis. In In the Heat presenteert Arturo Soto echter een subjectieve verbeelding van Panama’s stedelijke landschap die het conservatieve beeld van economische vooruitgang tegen spreekt. Hoewel het project niet bedoeld is als sociale kritiek, probeert het wel de uiteenlopende sociale waarden en ongelijkheid in Panama’s stedelijke omgeving...

Despite the significance of the natural sciences for humanity’s present and future, the principles of today’s scientific practices are often not exposed to the broad social discourse they deserve. Through a combination of philosophy and photography, Jana Hartmann produces a visual exploration of the history of alchemy and science. In the book, she initiates an intriguing dialogue on reductionistic and holistic worldviews, using excerpts from both alchemical writings and modern scientific ...

To whom does the city belong?

Haven tells the coming of age story of a boy in a rapidly changing environment. Sem Langendijk (NL) witnessed the unrooting effects of gentrification during his upbringing in the periphery of a large city. He lost his connection to the place he lived in for nearly thirty years.

This body of work is the result of a long-term research project into shifting demographics, waterfront development and the dynamics of gentrification. Haven brings together the environme...

Since World War II, the construction of mass tourist locations has been unceasing. Within just half a century, the sun drenched coastlines of Southern Europe were transformed into a global tourist destination. The resulting agglomeration of overdeveloped beach towns no longer show any recognisable relationship with their surroundings, country and history. Hibernation is an exploration into the off-season state of these places. A journey along surreal architecture, spaces and atmospheres, phot...

This book proposes a counter-narrative of the city of Oxford, England, that resists the visual imperatives of its venerable university. Over five years, Mexican photographer Arturo Soto explored the long-standing division between the town and its academic history through a careful selection of spaces and objects. His visual narrative is loosely structured around a few themes: notions of home and homelessness, the looming presence of Brexit, the conflicted local economy, and the diversity of t...

How can we visualise people’s state of mind in times of confusion and transformation?

Some Way Out of Here by Jos Jansen (NL) explores a new and different way to represent the uncertainty of the era we currently live in. He sought the limits of lens-based image making in a manner that resonates with the fluidity of this theme.

Using a 3D LiDAR camera, known for its ambiguous and mysterious point clouds, he scoured the streets of Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam, capturing people lost in their t...

Peter Pflügler devises an intimate maze into the heart of his family secret. Concealed for 20 years, his father’s suicide attempt was an occurrence he somehow always knew about. Investigating traces of this silenced trauma, he created images that inhabit the brink of comfort and irritation, of love and pain. While rummaging through this unsettling landscape, we are invited to look closer and discover texts and images hidden between the pages. ‘Now Is not the Right Time’ grapples with t...

Fascinated by awareness and ignorance, visual artist Anna Püschel began collecting definitions of words related to knowledge from a broad range of sources, from medieval texts to modern dictionaries. While some are objectively true and others are questionable, she nevertheless gathered the various definitions in this volume, a work that redefines referencing while juxtaposing French poetry with conspiracy theories, political essays, and recipes. Regardless of their origin, the definitions im...

The complex history and contested borders that shaped the countries of former Yugoslavia provide the stage on which Croatian-born Lana Mesic´ (NL) weaves new, personal narratives, examining the role and meaning of the enemy image in her fragmented childhood and how this history echoes upon this day. In light of recent political developments in Europe, the book encourages us to reflect on our own experiences. By bringing these to light, it helps to counter the nationalist narratives that domi...