With its presentation of ten young British artists, the Stadthaus Ulm has initiated a sequence of national and international photography exhibitions that is to carry on the photographic and cinematic tradition of the former Ulmer Hochschule für Gestaltung.

The current interest in British culture is an outgrowth of the flourishing cultural activity in metropolitan centers such as London or Glasgow, which finds its expression a variety of areas, including fashion, music and the visual arts. Many of the artists introduced here have lived for many years in this cultural environment, taking inspiration for their photographic work from everyday life in these metropolitan landscapes. They represent a young generation of artists who use photography to reflect upon the mechanisms of big-city life that enable the diverse ethnic and social urban populations to live together. The issue central to all of their work is the manner in which groups and individuals relate to their environment and to one another within it.

The artists:

Suky Best, Zarina Bhimji, Henry Bond, Don Brown, Martin Cole, Rut Blees Luxemburg, Sophy Rickett, Helen Robertson, David Shrigley

Set of 18 volumes in cardboard box 17 x 22,5 cm. Volume 1 : Antwerpen 1958-1969. — Volume 2 : Teksten / Texts by Bart Cassiman, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Iwona Blazwick, Yves Aupetitallot, Bruce Ferguson, Reesa Greenberg, Sandy Nairne, Homi K. Bhaba, Mauro Ceruti and Hugo Soly. — 16 volumes, contributions by artists : Judith Barry, Zarina Bhimji, Sylvia Bossu, Patrick Corillon, Fausto Delle Chiaie, Mark Dion, Eugenio Dittborn, Jimmie Durham, Maria Eichhorn, Andrea Fraser, Renee Green, Bethan Huws, Ann Veronica Janssens, Laurie Parsons, Mathias Poledna, Luca Vitone.

In the wake of failed states, growing economic and political inequality, and the ongoing US- and NATO-led wars for resources, security, and economic dominance worldwide, contemporary artists are revisiting former European colonies, considering past injustices as they haunt the living yet remain repressed in European consciousness. With great timeliness, projects by Sven Augustijnen, Vincent Meessen, Zarina Bhimji, Renzo Martens, and Pieter Hugo have emerged during the fiftieth anniversary of independence for many African countries, inspiring a kind of “reverse migration”—a return to the postcolony, which drives an ethico-political as well as aesthetic set of imperatives: to learn to live with ghosts, and to do so more justly.