Special Exhibition: Cultural Landscapes of Water

The Braunschweig Landscape has dedicated a photo competition to the element of water. The exhibition features, among others, photos from the award winners. More than 100 applications were submitted to the Braunschweig Landscape, nearly 50 of which made it to the final selection with their submitted projects. An expert jury decided on the four finalists. The successful participants are Jette Held (Tanne/Harz), Kai Löffelbein (Hannover), Oscar Lebeck (Leipzig), and Yana Wernicke (Hochheim am Main). The competition was announced in conjunction with the theme year "Water" of the Braunschweig Landscape.

The nominees and their projects: Jette Held (1982) is interested in the chemistry of things. They leave traces that lead to the image. The photochemical process is inscribed in these images in the form of time and reaction. Based on her artistic approach, she created a portrait series of the Oker. It consists of photograms that she exposed directly at night in the water of the Oker. Immediately afterward, the photographs were developed on-site using the analog hand-printing process. For Oscar Lebeck (1993), remembering and commemorating are essential foundations of democratic self-understanding in Germany. The artist demonstrates in his photographs the specific possibilities of art to make historical events present. The image of the Helmstedt lignite mining area was characterized by open-pit mines, spoil heaps, and industrial facilities. With the advent of the energy transition, the landscape in the lignite mining area began to change. It is increasingly being transformed into a local recreation area with lakes. In his work, Lebeck plays with mirrors, reflecting the water of the lakes and the surrounding environment, bringing both together in a new way.

Kai Löffelbein's (1981) work reflects his interest in how political and economic structures shape modern society. He has worked in various countries in Asia and Africa. For this project, he undertook an exploration of the riverbank landscapes to capture the dynamic interactions between the river and its surroundings. The photographic documentation includes various natural scenarios such as river meadows, fields, and wooded banks. Each of these elements provides a visual context for understanding the ecological and cultural aspects that shape the river. Yana Wernicke (1990) focuses on the photographic representation of animals and the relationship between humans, nature, and other living beings in her work. For this project, she dealt with the Jura Sea, a sea that once existed and has left significant traces in the Braunschweig Landscape to this day. At the excavation site in Schandelah, she was particularly interested in the people on-site. These works, combined with selected pieces from the existing collection, are on an exhibition tour and are now on display in the Municipal Art Collections at Schloss Salder.

The exhibited photos are by: Jette Held, Oscar Lebeck, Kai Löffelbein, Yana Wernicke, Uwe Brodmann, Andreas Greiner-Napp, Heinrich Heidersberger, Heinrich Riebesehl, Helfried Strauß, Cem Alexander Sünter, Klaus Wefringhaus, Ommo Wille, Christa Zeißig.