When can the exhibition be visited?

The exhibition is accessible from October 23, 2026, during the opening hours of the Sorbian Museum Cottbus and runs until February 21, 2027.

What is the entrance fee?

The entrance fee for adults is 5 Euros. Discounts and further tariff information are based on the details provided by the Sorbian Museum.

What content does the exhibition show?

The exhibition features a selection of around 200 glass negatives by Denis Galloway with photographs from Lower Lusatia, the Spreewald, and Wittichenau. The subjects include costumes, fieldwork, markets, children, women, and weddings.

Where does the exhibition take place?

The exhibition takes place at the Sorbian Museum Cottbus, Mühlenstraße 12, 03046 Cottbus.

Are there guided tours or museum education offers?

Information on guided tours and museum education offers will follow.

Is the museum barrier-free and is photography allowed?

Information on barrier-free access and photography rules will follow.

Discover Faces of a Time: Historical Photographs Tell Sorbian-Wendish Life Worlds

Name: Denis Galloway – Woblica from the lost house / Faces of a Time
Start: 2026-10-23T10:00:00+02:00
End: 2027-02-21T17:00:00+01:00
Location: Wendisches Museum Cottbus / Serbski muzej

Faces of a Time: Photographic Memories from Lusatia

The Sorbian Museum Cottbus presents a selection of around 200 glass negatives by the Scottish ethnographer, photographer, and artist Denis Galloway for the first time. The exhibition takes visitors into Lower Lusatia, the Spreewald, and Wittichenau between 1908 and 1914, offering a compelling artistic experience that blends historical photography, Sorbian-Wendish cultural history, and cultural education.

An Archive of Glass and Light

Galloway's historical photographs preserve faces, gestures, and living environments of a Sorbian-Wendish society. The special materiality of the glass negatives gives the images fine contrasts, clear contours, and a quiet precision. In the examination of the work, ethnographic accuracy is combined with a concentrated aesthetic experience.

Everyday Life, Work, and Lived Identity

The images show people engaged in fieldwork, at markets, and during significant events such as weddings. Portraits of children and women provide a personal access to the cultural history of the region. The various traditional costumes appear particularly impressive, as they are rarely visible in this authentic form today.

Between Ethnography and Photographic Art

Denis Galloway's photographic practice oscillates between documentation, visual cultural history, and photographic art. Body postures, eye contacts, fabrics, and spatial situations condense into carefully composed visual testimonies. His photographs serve as historical sources while also possessing an independent visual effect that invites quiet, intense contemplation of the works.

Photography as Cultural Memory

The original glass negatives were handed over to the Ethnographic Museum in Cluj-Napoca in 1950, later digitized, and made accessible through the online portal Europeana. The Sorbian Museum now translates this photographic treasure into an immediate museum experience. The curation connects regional memory culture with questions of Sorbian-Wendish identity, everyday life, and changes in rural life forms.

Conclusion: An Aesthetic Journey into the Visual History of Lusatia

Denis Galloway – Woblica from the lost house / Faces of a Time welcomes visitors with rare historical photographs, impressive portraits, and a sensitive connection between archive, ethnography, and photographic art. Those who want to experience the history of the Wends in the Spreewald not just through reading but through faces, gestures, and images should definitely visit this exhibition live at the Sorbian Museum Cottbus.