The rebel years of Düsseldorf's bohemian art scene - 'Faszinierende Dokumente' at Museum Kunstpalast

Developments in the art world are not only shaped by publications and exhibitions, but also by artistic events. The archive for artistic photography by the Rhine-region art community (AFORK), founded in 2003 in the Museum Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, aims to make these very rare and at the same time revealing moments in the art history of the Rhine-region tangible through photography.

Photographers such as Maren Heyne, Bernd Jansen, Benjamin Katz, Erika Kiffl, Ute Klophaus, Manfred Leve, Angelika Platen, Katharina Sieverding and Lothar Wolleh have been documenting happenings, performances as well as installations with their cameras since 1995.

Observations made in artist's studios and the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf document the creation of artworks and emphasise the international importance of the Rhine-region art scene. The exhibition, which was presented at the Moscow House of Photography in 2011, focuses on the studio space, event, academy, exhibition and portrait.

Museum Kunstpalast presents the 'Faszinierende Dokumente' exhibition in collaboration with the Moscow House of Photography as part of the city partnership between Moscow and Düsseldorf. An exhibition of around 150 photographs from the archive for artistic photography by the Rhine-region art community.

Erika Kiffl, born in 1939 in Karlsbad, began photographing the Düsseldorf art scene in the 1960s. She established herself as an artist in her own right due to her own perspective of the artist studios. Hence, you can see Gerhard Richter in his Düsseldorf studio in 1967, smoking a cigarette in front of his 'Diana' picture.

‘Faszinierende Dokumente’ at Museum Kunstpalast'
4th of February until the 29th of April 2012
Museum Kunstpalast, Kulturzentrum Ehrenhof, Ehrenhof 4-5, 40479 Düsseldorf
www.smkp.de