Archived website 2011
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HISTORY

The Fotofestival is one of the top fifteen festivals in the region and the largest curated photo festival in Germany. Since its inception in 2005 it has become a highly regarded international photo biennial.
The festival is curated by distinguished international visiting curators who, at seven venues in three cities, present works on a wide-ranging theme by circa sixty international photographic artists.
The most prestigious exhibition sites in the region participate in the Fotofestival: the Kunsthalle in Mannheim, the Wilhelm-Hack-Museum in Ludwigshafen, the Kunstverein Ludwigshafen, and the Kunstverein Heidelberg, as well as the halle_02 in Heidelberg. Two additional venues could be won over for 2011: ZEPHYR (Raum für Fotografie) and the Sammlung Prinzhorn in Heidelberg. The Fotofestival Mannheim_Ludwigshafen_Heidelberg joins the three cities and their art institutions together, thus enabling the initiation of a city-wide dialogue.
FROM THE 7th INTERNATIONALE FOTOTAGE MANNHEIM/LUDWIGSHAFEN TO THE 3rd FOTOFESTIVAL MANNHEIM_LUDWIGSHAFEN_HEIDELBERG

Following six successful runs of the Internationale Fototage in the Westphalian city of Herten, the first photo festival in the metropolitan region took place in 2005. The 7th Internationale Fototage Mannheim/Ludwigshafen addressed the themes “Contemporary American Photography” and “Die Kunst Deutsche(r) zu sein” (The Art of Being German). Director of the festival was Hansjoachim Nierentz.


With a new structure, a new name, and with Heidelberg as a third partner, Christoph Tannert, director of the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, curated the 2nd Fotofestival Mannheim_Ludwigshafen_Heidelberg on the theme of “Reality Crossings.”

In 2009, under the heading of “Images Recalled – Bilder auf Abruf,” the 3rd Fotofestival Mannheim_Ludwigshafen_Heidelberg demonstrated how the photographic image orders and structures our perspective of the world. The festival was directed by Tobias Berger (chief curator at the Nam June Paik Art Center in Seoul, South Korea) and the photo specialist Esther Ruelfs.