Love Istanbul

May 11th, 2012

did a similar picture at the same spot some five years ago….

Fener – Istanbul

May 11th, 2012

a mellow day of work in istanbul.
fener house – with daniel etter.

Kanitu – Ranya – Kurdistan

May 10th, 2012

some more images from kurdistan.
went to kanitu, a village near ranya, located in the east of iraqi kurdistan.
amazingly beautifully located in a valley surrounded by mountains from three sides, it was also a easy target for saddams ‘anfal’ campaign in the late 80′s.
as the residents told us, from once 700 families in the valley only 25 returned to their native soil.
today, most people live from manual labour or farming, while a couple of the elder men still practice the traditional craft of weaving the kurdish dress. watching it being done, one can’t help but think of time and its different meaninings in the world…

Kurdistan, Kurdistan…

May 8th, 2012

some more impressions from kurdistan….

when i first came here in 2007, i was first of all paranoid aboout being kidnapped and then bewildered about how the kurds put so many emphasis on their homeland, kurdistan.
as i’ve just seen the road from the border to dohul and from there to erbil, i could never really grasp what all that patriotic stuff was about. when being threatened from the outside, people just hold on to their place of origin however absurdly ugly this place may be. home is where the heart is, after all.

after having travelled to suleymania and to ranya from where i’m writing these lines, i’ve finally understand a bit better what kurdistan is about.

smoking shisha, looking at the kewarash mountains that remind me on kashmir, once can certainly like this place, if not more.

Travelling Kurdistan

May 7th, 2012

some images from my current roadtrip in kurdistan.
travelling from arbil to suleymania, i’m just amazed by the landscape and its people.
went for wild camping with kiwigambling some friends in a gorge.
moonshine-swimming and some balance disc amazon for training,
raw meat on open fire, hello cavemen-life.

back in suleymania, tired as hell…

Erbil – Vernissage

May 5th, 2012

some images from the vernissage of my exibition on the citadel of erbil.

Erbil

May 4th, 2012

The Venue – Hamam

May 2nd, 2012

just went to see the venue for the exhibition.
it’s gonna be in the old hamam of the citdel.
looks fair go casino australia great!

not sure yet how and where to put the images as we can’t just drill the walls.
and i’d feel rather bad drilling in some 1700 year old walls…

Leica M9

May 2nd, 2012

love penelope. and leica, haha…
the guys from the LFI magazine were so kind zo give me a M9 for ‘testing’ until winter.
had the M9 already for a month back in 2010, but having it for half a year is just great!
will do some posts in the ipad version of the LFI, shwoing some work from my ongoing project on christians in the middle east and whatever else comes along my way.
also have a interview in the current arte – magazine.
with my screensaver on the cover…
mmmmmmmmmh!

Exhibition in Erbil, Iraq

May 2nd, 2012

god, i’m so slow when it comes to updating my own homepage.
facebook makes one just so lazy…
so now i’m just pasting the info from facebook here.

“Happy to announce my upcoming solo-exhibition in the Citadel of Erbil / Iraq on May 5th 2012.

In collaboration with the Goethe Institut we will showcase africacasinos work from my projects in Kashmir, Bosnia, Ethiopia, Turkey and Iraq.

Being the oldest constantly inhabited place on earth, the Citadel of Erbil is certainly one of the nicer spots on earth to have a exhibition, although it might not yet be on the list of the most famous art-venues of the world…”