HfG alumni open exhibition in Istanbul on the Image Archive of the Nuclear Research Center Karlsruhe

In the beginning of October the traveling exhibition “Eternal Flame—the Radiating Archive” opened its doors in Istanbul at Barın Han. The project is conceived by Moritz Appich, Mustafa Emin Büyükcoşkun, Cécile Kobel, Judith Milz and Rayna Teneva following their first joint exhibition last year at Goethe-Institut Bulgaria. The exhibition revisits the still and moving Image Archive of the former Nuclear Research Center Karlsruhe which is now under the premises of KIT Archives. Along the artworks that derived from the entanglements with the archive, the publication "10%. Concerning the Image Archive of a Nuclear Research Center" is on view.

The Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe (KfK), West Germany’s first nuclear research center, was built in the middle of a large forest north of Karlsruhe in 1956. For over 50 years, professional photographers have documented the ongoings of the institution, resulting in a collection of approximately 210,000 photographs and films. With the initiation of Prof. Susanne Kriemann and Friederike Schäfer, a group of students, worked in this archive artistically since 2017, resulting in several exhibitions and the book published by Spector Books “10%”.

The exhibition in Istanbul, “Eternal Flame—the Radiating Archive”, sees this vast archive as a cosmos that holds the potential to translate and interpret the policies of image-making. Putting a post-war West Germany nuclear archive at its core, the exhibition reveals how still and moving images—distributed to the public or used for internal purposes—not only act as a record or provide evidence of an event but also represent the governance of memory and official ideology. The works in the exhibition propose questions concerning the documentary nature of recording—from speculations suggesting that fiction is creating future facts to acknowledging the contaminated reality and the existential consternation we already live in.

“Eternal Flame—the Radiating Archive” is curated by Merve Elveren and supported by ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen as well as Goethe-Institut Istanbul. The exhibition is situated in Barin Han, an off-space located in the historical peninsula of Istanbul, built by the well known Turkish calligrapher Emin Barın who studied at HGB Leipzig. The exhibition is on view till November 26th and will be finished with a performance by Judith Milz and a guided tour by the artists and the curator.

Eternal Flame—the Radiating Archive
06.10.–26.11.23

Finissage:
26.11.23, 17.00 Barın Han
Boyacı Ahmet Sk. No:4, 34122 Fatih/İstanbul, Turkey

You can find more information on Instagram:

Judith Milz: @kative3760

Rayna Teneva: @raynateneva

Cecile Kobel: @cecilekobel

Moritz Appich: @moritz.appich

Mustafa Emin Büyükcoşkun: @mediarcheology

Merve Elveren: @bayanmerve

Barın Han: @barin_han

ifa: @ifa_de

Goethe-Institut Istanbul: @goetheinstitutistanbul