Faces of a Time at the Sorbian Museum: Lusatia in Historical Photographs

Event: Denis Galloway – Woblica from the Forgotten House / Faces of a Time in Wendisches Museum Cottbus / Serbski muzej, Mühlenstraße 12, 03046 Cottbus on 6. October 2026

Date and Time

6. October 2026 10:00

Location

Cottbus
03 Cottbus, Deutschland

Price

5,00 €
Book Tickets

About this Event

Exhibitions & Museums

Mood

Relaxed

Venue Type

Inside

Faces of a Time: Photographic Memories of the Sorbs in the Spreewald

The Sorbian Museum Cottbus presents for the first time a selection of around 200 glass negatives by the Scottish ethnographer, photographer, and artist Denis Galloway. The exhibition leads to Lower Lusatia, the Spreewald, and Wittichenau between 1908 and 1914. Faces, costumes, work environments, and rituals become compelling visual testimonies of a Sorbian-Wendish way of life.

An Archive of Glass and Light

The historical photography unfolds a special materiality in the exhibition. Fine contrasts, precise contours, and the silent presence of the glass negatives connect ethnographic documentation with aesthetic experience. In the discussion of the works, the photographs appear not only as historical sources but also as carefully composed images that vividly preserve gazes, body postures, and textile details.

Everyday Life, Work, and Lived Identity

Denis Galloway's images focus on people in fieldwork, at markets, and during significant life events. Portraits of children and women, family pictures, and wedding photos convey intimacy with a regional society whose identity is expressed in language, clothing, customs, and community practices. The diverse costume variations, rarely seen in such authenticity, are particularly striking.

Photography Between Ethnography and Art

Galloway's work stands at the intersection of photographic art, visual cultural history, and ethnographic observation. His images document an epoch in transition and possess an independent visual impact. Fabrics, faces, gestures, and spatial situations condense into a concentrated composition. The atmosphere of the exhibition invites viewers to carefully read each image and discover the traces of a bygone way of life in detail.

The Sorbian Museum as a Place of Cultural Education

In the Sorbian Museum, the historical photographs enter into a dialogue with the culture and history of the Sorbs and Wends in Lower Lusatia. The curation opens perspectives on regional identity, memory culture, and the transformation of rural life forms. Thus, a visit to the museum combines art history, regional history, and cultural education into a sustainable art experience.

Conclusion: A Visual Journey through Lusatia

Denis Galloway – Woblica from the Forgotten House / Faces of a Time awaits visitors with rare historical photographs, impressive portraits, and a sensitive examination of works between archive, ethnography, and photographic art. Those who want to experience the Sorbian-Wendish history of Lusatia not only by reading but also directly through faces, gestures, and images should definitely visit this exhibition at the Sorbian Museum Cottbus live.

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  • Website: https://wendisches-museum.de

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