Cadavre Exquis @AFF

In the organizer's words:

What is Cadavre Exquis?

Invented by André Breton and the Surrealists, the process of this chain of associations is as simple as it is ingenious: one person begins with a free photographic contribution and passes it on to the next participant in a previously drawn order. This person in turn responds to it within seven days - as freely or closed, as formally or in terms of content as they wish - and sends the response to the next person. This is repeated 29 times so that a series is created that is linked in terms of content and aesthetics, although each artist only knows their own work and the template they have received until the vernissage.

The exhibition Cadavre Exquis @ AFF Gallery is a unique project that understands the future of art as a collective experience. Presented by the eponymous group of artists, the exhibition features 29 photographs created through a playful process of association. Each image reacts to the previous one and weaves an aesthetic web that combines poetry and mechanics. The creative dialog between 15 artists from Berlin and all over Germany began with a first series of pictures, which was exhibited in October 2024 in cooperation with the Höpfner Foundation in Karlsruhe.

For Berlin's AFF Gallery - known for artistic documentary photography - the process was extended and a second round was created to add 14 new works to the existing series. The concept of the exhibition is as radical as it is accessible: created in a continuous chain of associations, the exhibitions are unknown to the artists themselves until they are unveiled in a performance on the opening night. The public is invited to experience the creative dialog and to reflect on the overall artwork-like characteristics of the project itself.

The exhibition is accompanied by a sophisticated supporting program. On the one hand, the discussion evening 'The invisible between the images', to which Bernd Lüke (Head of the Communication and Media Department of the Museum of Technology Berlin), Carlotta Kittel (film editor and member of the German Film Academy) and Leila Raabe (visual artist, art educator and lecturer) have been invited. On the other hand, there will be guided tours with the participating artists on four dates under the title Walk and Talk.

With Cadavre Exquis @ AFF, the artist group shows how art can inspire, connect and activate in a collective way - idealistic, playful and uncompromisingly creative.