EIKON #104

Regarding photography, the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia has a lot to offer: photokina, which now takes place in Cologne every year, is a world-leading event for photographic and video technology, where most recently 800 exhibitors attracted about 180,000 visitors from all over the world. Quarter of a century after the founding of this important photo fair, Bernd and Hilla Becher drew international attention with their development of the Düsseldorf School of Photography and their unmistakable visual style; not a few of the former school leavers are now among the most successful photo artists, and of those a relatively large number—no doubt for good reasons—base their activities in the above-mentioned region. Currently, a potpourri of festivals (Düsseldorf Photo Weekend, Düsseldorf Photo, Photoszene Cologne), institutional exhibitions and the program of the galleries, located mainly in the cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf, ensure that photography is a fixed component of art events there.

About eighty years ago, such a wide range of opportunities to present photographic content was, of course, still remote, and yet, even then, with the foundation of the Folkwang University of the Arts in 1927 the first cornerstone for all this was laid. As a result, photography soon took on a leading role in Essen—while from the beginning the educational institution pursued the aim of coupling various approaches to art with each other in order to act in this interdisciplinary manner. Today, more than 1,400 students have music, theater, dance, design and scholarship available to them in the framework of 38 courses and programs. For EIKON Steffen Siegel as Professor for the theory and history of photography and director of the masters program Photography Studies and Research provides an insight into the history of the university; and further, with “In Focus: Photography Studies. Theory and Practice,” highlights of the exhibitions of current students, often interdisciplinary in design, are presented. Sprache: Deutsch und Englisch