DIETER SAUTER EXHIBTION OPENING
Dieter Sauter’s “Human Landscapes” photography exhibition opened on Saturday, March 12 at the Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki. The exhibition of the German filmmaker, photographer and writer is organized in the framework of the 13th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival by the TDF, the State Museum of Contemporary Art and Goethe Institutes of Thessaloniki and Istanbul.
Thessaloniki Film Festival director Dimitris Eipides welcomed the audience and the artist, stressing that the 13th Documentary Festival offers a unique opportunity for Thessaloniki’s audience to become acquainted with Sauter’s work. “Dieter Sauter’s images are akin to a documentary, since they capture the faces of ordinary people at work. The extraordinary feelings they generate are ideally suited to the festival’s program and activities”, said Eipides.
Mrs Sirago Tsiara, director of the Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki, described the longstanding cooperation between the Art Center and the TDF as an “auspicious occasion”. She went on to describe Dieter Sauter’s exhibition as one that “captures the unseen side of the working classes in Turkey, revealing the price the country has to pay for its economic development”.
The exhibition of the German artist includes portraits of construction workers in Istanbul’s Golden Horn Estuary. These welders and workers are Istanbul’s modern nomads, their faces marked by a region, a country, an entire life.
Taking the floor, Dieter Sauter said: “In the past, the debate was whether photography is a real art. Now, we are concerned about what real photography is, given all the capabilities modern technology offers, such as Photoshop or the great variety of different lenses. In any case, it is my firm belief that– if the photographer is fortunate enough – the audience will appreciate his work and find in the image something that would have otherwise gone unnoticed”.
In his speech, Goethe Institute’s director Peter Panes expressed his pleasure for the cooperation established between the Institute and the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. “Multiculturalism is one of the main interests of the Goethe Institute and this exhibition is part of this pursuit“, said Panes.
The “Human Landscapes” exhibition will be open daily from 11:00 to 21:00, until Sunday, March 20, 2011, at the Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki. The exhibition is funded by the European Union’s Regional Development Fun, in the framework of the Central Macedonia Regional Operational Program 2007-2013.
