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Opening: Friday, September 4, 2009, 7:00 p.m.
Wilhelm-Hack-Museum Ludwigshafen

For further information about the artists, the venues and their projects and for the supporting program please check


For the third time now, from September 5-October 25, 2009 the three cities Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, and Heidelberg are hosting Germany's most exceptional photo festival.

Titled IMAGES RECALLED – BILDER AUF ABRUF, the festival is dedicated to how photographs order and structure our view of the world. While mass media images usually assume or reinforce these patterns, artistic photography challenges the model that has been established by journalism, scientific, and amateur photography. Rather than simply complaining about drowning in surges of images, the festival tests the thesis that there is a limited repertoire of patterns pre-determining the structures through which we view the images in this world. The festival aims to address our interpretation of visual cues by deconstructing patterns of images.

The 3rd Fotofestival will present sixty international artists and photographers, whose works will be exhibited at numerous museums, kunstvereins, and other art venues. IMAGES RECALLED includes works by Horst Ademeit, AES+F, Sammlung Daniel Blau, Cao Fei, Natalie Czech, Reem Da'as, Slawomir Elsner, Heba Farid, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Nina Fischer & Maroan el Sani, Joan Fontcuberta, Aurélien Froment, Anthony Goicolea, Michal Heiman, Thomas Hirschhorn, Juul Hondius, Margret Hoppe, Sanja Ivekovic, Luis Jacob, Nils Klinger, An-My Lê, Jochen Lempert, Ulrike Lienbacher, Renzo Martens, Mirko Martin, Randa Mirza, Ernst Mitzka, Simon Norfolk, Tsuyoshi Ozawa, Peter Piller, Bettina Pousttchi, Bernhard Prinz, Julika Rudelius, Anne Schumann, Ann Shelton, Xaviera Simmons, Sean Snyder, Joel Sternfeld, Clare Strand, Yuk King Tan, Yvonne Todd, Penelope Umbrico, Catrine Val, VVORKS, Christoph Wachter & Mathias Jud, Zheng Guogu.

For this edition the chosen curators are the photography specialist Esther Ruelfs (*1972) and the curator Tobias Berger (*1969) - currently chief curator at the Nam June Paik Art Center in Korea. In recent years, Ruelfs has curated several large-scale photographic exhibition projects for major German museums, such as the Museum Folkwang Essen and the Fotomuseum at the Münchner Stadtmuseum. Furthermore, she publishes and conducts research on contemporary and historical photography-related themes. Tobias Berger has worked, among other places, at the Fridericianum (Kassel), has acted as director of several international institutions in New Zealand, Hong Kong and curated at Biennials in Vilnius, Kwangju, Christchurch and São Paulo, and is commissioner of the current Hong Kong participation at the Venice Biennale 2009.

An extensive supporting program will accompany the exhibitions, such as the award ceremony of the noted Cultural Prize of the German Association of Photography (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photography/ DGPh). The Cultural Prize 2009 will be awarded to Wolfgang Tillmans on October 3, 2009, at the Heidelberger Kunstverein.

Portfolio Reviews, Lectures, discussions with artists, and guided tours related to the individual themes are also taking place.

Fotofestival Mannheim_Ludwigshafen_Heidelberg e.V. hosts the festival. Running since 1993, the Fotofestival Mannheim_Ludwigshafen_Heidelberg e.V. has opened discussions on contemporary trends in photography. The three participating cities of Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, and Heidelberg are part of the executive committee.

Esther Ruelfs and Tobias Berger are publishing a full 224 page color catalog for the 3rd Fotofestival Mannheim_Ludwigshafen_Heidelberg with contributions from important authors and curators.

For further information about the 3rd Fotofestival Mannheim_Ludwigshafen_Heidelberg, it´s program, venues, and projects please check http://www.fotofestival.info .