The Deutsches Foto Institute is coming in big steps. Bernd and Hilla Becher Festival Week from 15 May

Düsseldorf, 26 April 2023

The Deutsches Fotoinstitut

is coming in big steps.

On 19 May, the Bernd and Hilla Becher Prize will be awarded for the first time in the Eiskellerberg Gallery.

And read the entire programme of the festival week

The likely location for the Deutsches Fotoinstitut on the grounds of the Kunstpalast

©Jonathan Kemper

Press conference at gallery Eiskellerberg on 26 April 2023: Lord Mayor Dr. Stephan Keller presented the programme for the Bernd-und-Hilla-Becher-Prize-Week together with Councillor Miriam Koch (r.) and Linda Conze, Head of Photography at the Kunstpalast. © City of Düsseldorf/Ingo Lammert

Düsseldorf, 26 April 2023:

Since November 2022 it has been clear that the much sought-after Deutsches Fotoinstitut (German Photo Institute) will open its doors in Düsseldorf.

The Budget Committee of the German Bundestag decided to fund the construction with 43 million euros and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia announced that it would be involved with 43 million euros.

The city of Düsseldorf then moved into the gallery rooms at Eiskellerberg 1-3, which are directly adjacent to the Kunstakademie, presumably as one of the event rooms but also as a place for an office of the DFI e. V. (Association for the Foundation and Promotion of a German Photo Institute).

One of the kick-off events will be the first awarding of the Bernd and Hilla Becher Prize. This also shows that Düsseldorf was the right choice.

The two photographers Bernd and Hilf Becher founded the well-known "Düsseldorfer Schule" (Düsseldorf Photo School), based in the Düsseldorf Kunstakademie, where Bernd Becher held a professorship, and in the pair's studio in Kaiserswerth. Together, the creative couple travelled Europe and North America since the late 1950s, photographing industrial works. Today, the label "Düsseldorfer Schule" stands for an objectifying photographic view from a certain distance. This style became the trademark of the "Düsseldorfer Schule". Students in the period between 1976 and 1996 are called "Becher-Schüler" (Becher pupils) and many of them achieved a high international reputation, such as Candida Höfer, Axel Hütte, Thomas Ruff and the probably best known, Andreas Gursky.

The Bernd and Hilla Becher Award ceremony on 19 May will probably take place in a small, exclusive setting, also because of the small premises. The whole of Düsseldorf can take part in festivities surrounding the prize.

Which festivities will take place from Monday, 15 May, to Saturday, 20 May?

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15 May

Film screening

Black Box Kino im Filmmuseum, Monday, 15 May, 6 p.m. "Eastwood" by Alireza Rasoulinejad 2021, Iran, 71 min., Farsi, OmeU, curated by Hannah Darabi.

15 May

Film screening

Black Box Cinema at the Film Museum, Monday, 15 May, 8 p.m., films by Carrie Mae Weems.

16 May

Film screening

Black Box Kino im Filmmuseum, Tuesday, 16 May, 5 p.m. "Chess of the Wind" by Mohammad Reza Aslani 1976, Iran, 100 min., Farsi, OmeU, curated by Hannah Darabi.

Photo book presentation

Central Library Düsseldorf, KAP 1, Konrad-Adenauer- Platz 1, Düsseldorf, Wednesday, 5 to 6 pm. ANT!FOTO presents photo books by Hannah Darabi in the series Photography in Books at the Central Library.

19 May

Visit to the Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur

Im Mediapark 7, Cologne, Friday, 19 May, 11 am to 1 pm. Exhibition with photographs by the American artist Lucinda Devlin. Selected works and documents from the Bernd and Hilla Becher Archive. Limited number of participants. Registration at fotografie@duesseldorf.de requested.

20 May

Film screening

Black Box Kino im Filmmuseum, Saturday, 20 May, 2 p.m. "Blood Is Not Fresh Water" by Theo Eshetu 1997, Ethiopia / Italy / UK, 57 min., English / Amharic / Italian, OmeU, curated by Carrie Mae Weems.

20 May

Exhibition

Galerie Eiskellerberg, Düsseldorf, Saturday 20 May Exhibition of new works by award winners Carrie Mae Weems and Hannah Darabi. Appointments by appointment at fotografie@duesseldorf.deÖffnungszeiten: 20 to 28 May from 4 to 6 pm.

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Admission to all events is free.