Vernissage: Finding Afghanistan. Photographs 2001-2021 by Martin Gerner

"The more I think about my work in Afghanistan, the more abysmal our failure towards the people seems to me, especially towards the women we left behind and who are now exposed to an unprecedented gender apartheid," says photographer Martin Gerner about his photographic work at the Catholic Academy in Freiburg. "How can we prevent a catastrophe like this from happening again?" One thing seems clear to the award-winning author and conflict researcher. "If we give up on Afghanistan now, we are giving up on ourselves."

Gerner experienced the war in the Hindu Kush for over twenty years and documented his everyday life. His work can now be seen for the first time in Freiburg. The Catholic Academy Freiburg invites you to the vernissage of the exhibition "Finding Afghanistan" on Friday, May 3 at 6 pm at Wintererstr. 1. There will be an opportunity for questions and discussion with the author. The introductory discussion will be moderated by Freiburg photographer and filmmaker Telemach Wiesinger.

With authenticity and closeness to the people, Martin Gerner's pictures document the period between the intervention in the Hindu Kush at the end of 2001 and shortly before the Taliban's return in August 2021. Gerner's photographic works make it possible to close visual and emotional knowledge gaps and thus make a significant contribution to the work of remembering a culturally rich society that is often portrayed in our discourse as prejudiced, backward and fanatical.

With the exhibition "Finding Afghanistan", the Catholic Academy of Freiburg hopes to keep alive the memory of Afghanistan, which is increasingly being displaced by other conflicts. Gerner's pictures give the people of Afghanistan a face and a voice with perspectives that are as fresh as they are unusual. They can thus build bridges of dialog between Germans and Afghans. And contribute to new hope and vision.

The exhibition can be viewed from the vernissage until July 31, 2024 during the opening hours of the Catholic Academy. Admission is free. Registration for the vernissage is possible at: www.katholische-akademie-freiburg.de