Barbara Klemm: Light and Dark. Photographs from Germany, an exhibition by the ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), is presented in partnership with the Goethe-Institut, and will include multidisciplinary programming in collaboration with faculty scholars throughout campus.

Taken while on assignment for newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Klemm's photos capture forty years of cultural, social, and political history in the formerly divided nation, creating icons of contemporary European history. The opening reception is Saturday, September 6 from 6-8pm and will be preceded by a gallery talk with co-curator, Dr. Ursula Zeller, at 5pm.

Curated by German art historians Matthias Flügge and Ursula Zeller, both of whom worked closely with Klemm, the exhibition chronicles some of the most decisive events in German history, perhaps most memorably during 1989 reunification of East and West Germany. Though the majority of photographs, which Klemm herself calls "action in condensed form," were taken on assignment, she created a body of photographs which combine the documentary and the artistic in a manner seldom encountered in German press photography.

The staff and board of the UAM gratefully acknowledge the generous contributions from the Instructionally Related Activities Fund, the Constance W. Glenn Fund for Exhibition and Education Programs, the Charles and Elizabeth Brooks Endowment for Exhibition and Education Programs, and the Bess Hodges Foundation.

Opening Night Events:

Saturday, September 6
5pm – Gallery talk with co-curator Ursula Zeller
6-8pm – Opening reception

Educational programming for Barbara Klemm: Light and Dark is organized in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles and the CSULB Departments of English, Film and Electronic Arts, Geography, and German Studies, and will include lectures and a film series. All events are free and open to the public. Visit csulb.edu/uam for a full list of upcoming events.  

The catalogue, Barbara Klemm: Light and Dark, Photographs from Germany, with Matthias Flügge's insightful interview with Klemm, will be available for purchase in the UAM bookstore.