Sammlung Falckenberg

Connection, infinity, love – in the face of the other is conceived as a curatorial act of generosity, inviting us to move beyond the parameters of our own conformity – towards acceptance and tolerance of the unknown or undecipherable in life. The exhibition aims to invite reflection on the familiarity of the "essence" of photography, welcoming a time when we can consider the infinite possibilities of human kindness and harness love as a source of strength – politically, culturally, and familially.

The exhibition focuses on the diverse staging possibilities of physicality, understanding the body as a medium for conveying different roles, projections, desires, and fantasies. The objects presented from the F.C. Gundlach Collection – assembled since the mid-1970s – are not only highly relevant to the reconfiguration of the queer community, but they also open up a view into an exciting, yet also very intimate, area of this private collection: the vulnerable, the defensive, the tamed and untamed, the patient and restless body, illuminated from a wide range of perspectives and motivations by approximately 60 participating photographers.

How can a history of counterculture, which continues to influence artistic approaches to this day, be told alongside the development of contemporary art? This question guides the exhibition Inner Mornings, or Forms of Counterculture.In the interplay of three significant collections – the Falckenberg Collection and the collections of FRAC Pays de la Loire and the Musée d’arts de Nantes – it becomes clear how artists develop resistant aesthetic strategies, open up alternative spaces, and dissolve the boundary between the center and the margins of society. The project opens a compelling dialogue: it shows how counterculture is collected, mediated, and understood in different contexts. This creates a multifaceted picture of art as an opportunity to question social realities and open up new perspectives. Building on Thoreau, Foucault, and Guattari, the exhibition understands counterculture as active, discursive, and transformative. In four thematic chapters – “Claiming the multiplication of points of view and voices,” “See, show, divert and denounce,” “Rereading history, another story,” and “Shock, shake, upset, move the lines” – positions are presented that rewrite historical narratives, question social power relations, and make artistic strategies of irritation and resistance visible.The exhibition is created in cooperation with the Centre Claude Cahun, the photographic collections of the city of Nantes, and the Regional Fund for Contemporary Art of Pays de la Loire.

The exhibition INNER MORNINGS, OR FORMS OF COUNTERCULTURE is open every Sunday and during the festival week of the 9th Triennial of Photography on Saturdays, June 6 and 13, from 12 PM to 5 PM. On these days, short guided tours will take place, which are included in the admission to the exhibition. Due to limited capacity, registration is required for the public guided tour.

Art students guide you through the exhibition with their very own perspective on the works – personal, unconventional, and close to contemporary art. The Young Artists Perspectives invite you to casual conversations on the last Sunday of every month and during the festival week of the Triennial of Photography, opening up exciting new perspectives on the works with their individual approach. Jette Hoop is a photographer and artist who studies sculpture at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts. In her work, she explores materialities, light, and the depiction of inner worlds. To this end, she stages found and constructed objects and captures these tactile and color-intensive constellations photographically.