Anger, sadness and fear can look back on a long history of social taboo in the cosmos of emotions. When asked about the current political reality in Germany, they also run the risk of being instrumentalized for right-wing nationalist and populist purposes. In addition to the escalating debate about migration and the declining climate protection agreements, the cultural sector is also coming under massive pressure. What role can feelings of anger, sadness and fear play in artistic practice? Are they a catalyst or also a way of confronting and resisting? These are questions that artist Cihan Çakmak and curator Maria Hlavajova will address. Moderated by Emily Winkelsträter and Paulina Akbay.
Cihan Çakmak was born in Lower Saxony in 1993 and grew up in Worpswede and Bremen. After studying photography at the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts, with an interim study visit to Lisbon, she enrolled at the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts in 2017. There she studied in the class of Prof. Tina Bara and received her diploma in 2021. In 2023, she completed her master student studies, also at the HGB. In 2020, Cihan Çakmak received the Paula Modersohn Becker Young Talent Award, Worpswede, and in 2023 the ein-blicke Award at the blicke film festival, Bochum. In addition to exhibiting, she speaks in the form of artist talks on current topics and discourses.
Maria Hlavajova is an organizer, researcher, pedagogue, curator, and founding director of BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht (since 2000). Hlavajova has instigated and (co-)organized numerous projects at BAK and beyond, including the series Propositions for Non-Fascist Living (2017–2024), among many other international research, education, exhibition, and publication projects. Her curatorial work includes Call the Witness, Roma Pavilion, 54th Venice Biennale, Venice, 2011; Citizens and Subjects, Dutch Pavilion, 52nd Venice Biennale, Venice, 2007.
Paulina Akbay (*1997 in Istanbul) has been studying the Media Arts programme at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne since autumn 2020 as well as Cross-Disciplinary Strategies at the University of Applied Arts Vienna for an Erasmus semester. They hold a Bachelor's degree in Media Art, Media Psychology and Media Pedagogy from the University of Cologne. Akbay works at the interface of multimedia art, film and research with a focus on culture, ecology and politics.
Symposium 2025
Another State of Mind: What we Feel - What we See - What we Do.
Symposium of the International Photoszene Cologne in cooperation with the Academy of Media Arts Cologne on the exhibition “Feelings & Photography” & “To Dwell in the Same Time and Space” as part of the Photoszene Festival Cologne
May 16, 2025, 3-6 p.m.
May 17, 2025, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Academy of Media Arts, Cologne
Filzengraben 4, 50676 Cologne
What insights does photography provide about people's feelings? How can feelings be captured photographically - or created visually? Together with invited international artists, scientists, curators and teachers, we will reflect on the power of emotions in and from images. What are their potentials and dangers? On Friday, the focus will be on the creation of emotions in the digital and generative image world. In addition to current scientific lectures on the expression of emotions in photography, curators will speak on Saturday about their experiences in dealing with emotions and exhibition practice. KHM students will discuss emotions as a catalyst for artistic practice in times of multiple crises with speakers they have invited.
Speakers (as of 12.03.2025):
- Dr. Thomas Spies (Media scientist and media artist)
- Dr. Roland Meyer (Digital cultures and arts, Universität Zürich)
- Stefanie Schröder (Artist, Leipzig)
- Dr. Geraldine Spiekermann (Art Historian, Universität Potsdam),
- Nadine Isabelle Henrich (Curator Haus der Photographie, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg) in conversation with Roxana Rios (Artist, Leipzig)
- Dr. Sophie-Charlotte Opitz (Curator, Bucerius Kunstforum, Hamburg) in conversation with Yuki Furisawa (Artist, Subame-City, Niigata, Japan) and Bokeum Lee (Artist, Dortmund)
- Christin Müller (Curator, Leipzig)
- Emily Winkelsträter & Paulina Akbay (Studierende, KHM Köln) in conversation with Maria Hlavajova (Art Historian, Utrecht) und Cihan Çakmak (Artist, Berlin)
Dr. Anne Potjans (Literaturwissenschaftlerin, HU Berlin) in conversation with Rebecca Racine Ramershoven (Artist, Köln)
Program:
Friday, 16.05.2025
15:00 - 15:40
Dr. Thomas Spies
Shooting, Pictures: Aesthetics and Practices of Virtual Photography
15:45 - 16:15
Dr. Roland Meyer
“Real emotions”. Generative AI, synthetic visual worlds and right-wing affect management
16:15 - 16:45
Coffee break
16.45 - 17:45
Stefanie Schroeder
An insecure bank
Saturday, 17.05.2025
10:00 - 10:40
Dr. Geraldine Spiekermann
Photographed feelings.
11:00 - 11:40
Dr. Sophie-Charlotte Opitz, Yuki Furusawa, Bokeum Lee and Jan Borreck
Sensitive to light - On photography, emotion and memory
13:00 - 13:40
Rebecca Racine Ramershoven and Dr. Anne Potjans
Unapologetically feeling: Black feminist perspectives on the oppression and power of feelings
14:00 - 14.40
KHM students: Emily Winkelsträter and Paulina Akbay, guests: Maria Hlavajova, Chan Çakmak
“Hard feelings only: Artistic practice and cultural work in the current political climate”
15:00 - 15:50
Christin Müller
When emotions manifest themselves in photographic material
16:00 - 16:45
Nadine Isabelle Henrich and Roxana Rios
States-Of-Rebirth
Moderation:
Jan Borreck (Curator, Internationale Photoszene Köln) and Andreas Langfeld (Research Associate, Academy of Media Arts, Cologne)
The symposium is free of charge and will be held partly in German and partly in English. We offer simultaneous translation German-English on spot.
We are happy about supporting donations!
Binding registration for the symposium for detailed planning on site is requested by email to: anmeldung@photoszene.de
The two-day symposium takes place at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne with the kind support of VG Bild-Kunst / Stiftung Kulturwerk.