Art Calendar – Current Exhibitions in Germany

The Dresden photographer Harald Hauswald became known for his pictures from inside the GDR and as chronicler of its demise. The Leonhardi Museum in Dresden has now excavated his memories and is showing a selection of his photographs from 1976 to 1990.

With sarcastic and critical humour, Hauswald, who was born in Radebeul in Saxony in 1954, captured everyday life in the GDR and showed the cracks and shadows of the communist state. His motifs could be seen all over the country, but not his photographs. After having photographed for years only for himself, a few of his pictures were published in West German magazines such as Stern und Geo and caused a stir. His photographs were henceforth banned and he himself was noted down as a worker for the class enemy.

After the political turnaround, Hauswald was a co-founder of the Berlin-based photographic agency Ostkreuz and his pictures were finally published again. In 1997 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for his work.

In addition to the well-known black-and-white pictures from the communist era, the exhibition is also showing the series Elbe and the only recently released picture book Ferner Osten – die letzten Jahre der DDR (i.e., Far East. The Last Years of the GDR).