Opening: October 3, 2025
7 p.m.
Exhibition: October 3 to October 5, 2025, 12 - 18 h
DOCK 11 / DOCKdigital, Saal 4
Kastanienallee: 79
10405 Berlin
Free admission
In her portrait series, created in the Mahler class at the renowned Ostkreuz School of Photography, photographer Isabel Kittler addresses the moving and urgent question: "What remains of the women who were born and raised in the GDR, educated and collectively socialized—and who lived roughly half their lives in a dictatorship?"
The exhibition presents 35 striking portraits of women whose lives are closely connected to a defunct state—and yet extend far beyond it. It is about memory and identity, about strength, loss, and change. It's about women who have experienced and overcome social upheavals – and yet who often remain invisible in public memory. There will be photos, texts, and quotes from each protagonist.
What distinguishes this generation? What can they pass on to future generations – or will they be forgotten?
The photographer portrays her protagonists with great intimacy and respect. Each of them carries a unique story within them; each biography testifies to resilience, adaptation, courage, and the pursuit of self-realization. The vast majority of them are mothers. The portraits tell of life experiences that are complex and multifaceted – yet have hardly become part of the overall German narrative. "This work touched me deeply," says the photographer. "I bow to the interesting and diverse biographies of these amazing women. They have achieved much, undergone great changes – and, for me, radiate a special strength and beauty."
The exhibition is intended as a photographic monument – and as an invitation to look, listen and engage with a part of history that is far too often overlooked.