When does the exhibition take place?

The exhibition starts on 29.08.2026 at 11:00 a.m. and runs until 15.11.2026.

What is the admission fee?

The regular admission is 4 euros, reduced 3 euros. For the combined ticket, it is 6 euros, reduced 3 euros.

What are the museum's opening hours?

The Diesel Power Plant Cottbus is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Is the museum accessible?

Yes, the exhibition spaces, event room, and the mukk. are accessible via elevators.

What is the focus of the exhibition?

The focus is on art with photography in the GDR, particularly experimental, performative, and not purely documentary photography of the 1980s.

Where is the venue located?

At the Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art - Diesel Power Plant Cottbus, Am Amtsteich 15, 03046 Cottbus.

GDR Photography as Bold Liberation in the Cottbus Museum Experience

Name: Unstoppable 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: Brandenburgisches Landesmuseum für Moderne Kunst - Dieselkraftwerk Cottbus

Photography as a New Beginning: GDR Art in New Sharpness

At the Brandenburg State Museum of Modern Art in the Diesel Power Plant Cottbus, this art experience encounters a photography that consciously opposed routine, convention, and pure documentation in the 1980s. The exhibition Unstoppable Self-Movements. Art with Photography in the GDR shows how artists sought liberation, self-expansion, and transgression through images, actions, and performative interventions. ([cottbus.de](https://cottbus.de/veranstaltungen/ungebremste-selbstbewegungen-kunst-mit-fotografie-in-der-ddr/))

When Photography Becomes an Attitude

The presentation focuses on those currents of a different photography in the GDR that place the idea at the center rather than the representation. Instead of journalistic descriptions of reality, works are created that reflect their own conditions, often anti-aesthetic, experimental, and committed to serial thinking. The result is an exhibition atmosphere full of tensions, where the contemplation of works becomes both a historical and aesthetic experience. ([cottbus.de](https://cottbus.de/veranstaltungen/ungebremste-selbstbewegungen-kunst-mit-fotografie-in-der-ddr/))

Curatorial Perspective and Artistic Names

The concept of the exhibition comes from Christoph Tannert, who has been researching non-state-sponsored positions in GDR art for decades and is established as an author, curator, and art critic. Works by artists including Claus Bach, Tina Bara, Micha Brendel, Kurt Buchwald, Thomas Florschuetz, Else Gabriel, Wolf Kahlen, Maix Mayer, Florian Merkel, Cornelia Schleime, Erasmus Schröter, Gabriele Stötzer, and others who shape the spectrum of this image culture are presented. ([cottbus.de](https://cottbus.de/veranstaltungen/ungebremste-selbstbewegungen-kunst-mit-fotografie-in-der-ddr/))

The Diesel Power Plant as a Suitable Resonance Space

The Diesel Power Plant Cottbus is part of the BLMK, which is regarded as a comprehensive collection of GDR art with around 45,000 works. The site is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; all exhibition spaces, the event room, and the mukk. are accessible via elevators. Thus, the museum offers a clearly structured framework for cultural education, collection reference, and in-depth museum education. ([blmk.de](https://www.blmk.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/blmk-4quartalsheft-2024-ansicht.pdf))

Why the Visit is Worthwhile

This exhibition opens the perspective on a only fragmentarily narrated chapter of GDR art history and shows photography as a medium of self-assertion, improvisation, and artistic freedom. Anyone interested in photographic art, performances, installations, and the aesthetic experience of East German avant-gardes will find an exhibition of great historical density and immediate presence here. A visit is definitely worthwhile in person, as these works unfold their full effect in the space. ([cottbus.de](https://cottbus.de/veranstaltungen/ungebremste-selbstbewegungen-kunst-mit-fotografie-in-der-ddr/))