"Picknick in Persien"

C-print on Dibond

At the center of Beate Passow's photographs is man and the culture he has created, with all its ruptures and perversions. The exhibition now shows a new aspect of her work. The works combine her interest in human beings and her engagement with non-European cultures. Thus, the large-format photographs show phenomena that point to an effect of violence on people against a specific cultural background.  On display are pictures of women in burkas in Europe, beggars in Pakistan whose heads were tied as children, Chinese prostitutes in Lhasa, Tibet. The pictures of the new series "Cross-Culture" are printed on canvas and embroidered. The artist, who is equally active as a researcher and observer, seeks to grasp the cultural phenomena in their entire range and make them comprehensible.
(Gallery Carol Johnssen, 2008)