Name: Unbraked Self-Movements. Art with Photography in the GDR
Start: 2026-08-29T13:00:00+02:00
End: 2026-11-15T20:00:00+01:00
Location: Dieselkraftwerk Cottbus

Photography as a Breakthrough: GDR Art Between Experiment and Boundary Crossing

The exhibition Unbraked Self-Movements. Art with Photography in the GDR at the Brandenburg State Museum for Modern Art in the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus focuses on a visual culture that consciously distanced itself from conventional documentary photography in the 1980s. The focus is on artistic positions that understood photography as an idea, action, intervention, and performative gesture, thereby opening up an independent aesthetic experience. The exhibition begins on 29.08.2026 at 11:00 AM and runs until 15.11.2026. ([cottbus.de](https://cottbus.de/veranstaltungen/ungebremste-selbstbewegungen-kunst-mit-fotografie-in-der-ddr/))

Photography as an Attitude, Not Just a Representation

Christoph Tannert's curatorial perspective makes visible how a different photography emerged in the late GDR: subcultural, experimental, often anti-aesthetic, and closely linked to actions, performances, and serial thinking. The positions presented are understood as an engagement with the works in the best sense: They reflect conditions, materiality, and medial boundaries instead of merely capturing reality. With works by Claus Bach, Tina Bara, Micha Brendel, Kurt Buchwald, Klaus Elle, Else Gabriel, Thomas Florschuetz, Cornelia Schleime, Gabriele Stötzer, and others, a multifaceted panorama of artistic self-assertion opens up. ([cottbus.de](https://cottbus.de/veranstaltungen/ungebremste-selbstbewegungen-kunst-mit-fotografie-in-der-ddr/))

The Diesel Power Plant as a Resonance Space

The former industrial building at Am Amtsteich gives the exhibition a special exhibition atmosphere. The clear architecture, the light of the high rooms, and the historical materiality of the house amplify the tension between memory, opposition, and artistic experiment. The BLMK shares modern art with a strong reference to the GDR and also offers a broadly structured educational program with guided tours, workshops, and museum educational offerings. Exhibition spaces, events hall, and mukk. are accessible via elevators. ([blmk.de](https://www.blmk.de/programm/ausstellungseroeffnung-else-moegelin-ich-wollte-gegen-alle-hindernisse-weben/))

Cultural Education and In-Depth Communication

Those who visit the exhibition experience not only historical photographic art but also a reflective approach to art history, curation, and visual culture of the GDR. The BLMK links its collection with educational formats for various target groups, thereby opening up a space for art interest, discussion, and aesthetic experience. Particularly, the combination of photographic works, conceptual art, and the architectural framework of the Diesel Power Plant makes the visit a concentrated art experience. ([museen-brandenburg.de](https://www.museen-brandenburg.de/de-ls/museen/nach-themen/kunstmuseen/brandenburgisches-landesmuseum-fuer-moderne-kunst-dieselkraftwerk-cottbus))

Conclusion

Unbraked Self-Movements promises a precise, sensually charged look at the experimental photography of the GDR and at artists who bravely and independently opened up new imagery. Anyone interested in photography, performance, GDR art, and contemporary historical perspectives should definitely experience this exhibition live in Cottbus. ([cottbus.de](https://cottbus.de/veranstaltungen/ungebremste-selbstbewegungen-kunst-mit-fotografie-in-der-ddr/))