Ceremony and reflection: “Documentary in Flux. Revisiting C/O Berlin Talent Award”

A celebration of twenty-five years of C/O Berlin and nearly twenty years of the C/O Berlin Talent Award

Celebrating their twenty-fifth birthday, C/O Berlin is pleased to present the exhibition “Documentary in Flux. Revisiting the C/O Berlin Talent Award”. Running until September 16, 2025, this group exhibition sheds light on the transformation of documentary strategies in the contemporary photographic discourse, from the established genre of documentary photography to staged documentaries, the expansion of the concept of media, and visions of the future. The show brings together fourteen selected artists of the C/O Berlin Talent Award from over the past two decades: Friederike Brandenburg, Sylvain Couzinet-Jacques, Adji Dieye, Anna Ehrenstein, Sibylle Fendt, Pepa Hristova, Sasha Kurmaz, Emanuel Mathias, Willem Popelier, Florian van Roekel, Ivonne Thein, Janina Wick, Karolina Wojtas and Tobias Zielony.

The C/O Berlin Talent Award, established in 2006, has become a longstanding cornerstone of their program. From its inception to the present day, it remains a unique annual prize dedicated to both emerging artists and theorists. Over the past two decades, the award has recognized more than ninety individuals, including forty-seven artist-theorist pairs across both disciplines.

To celebrate its twenty-fifth birthday, C/O Berlin has a wide-ranging program of events. In conjunction with the exhibition, C/O Berlin will host the discussion Between Prize and Practice on July 19th at WILHELM STUDIOS (admission free). Held in collaboration with the Ostkreuzschule, the event will focus on the promotion of emerging talents in photography. Invited speakers are Veronika Epple (Junior Curator C/O Berlin), Michel Kekulé (Photography graduate of the Ostkreuzschule) and Daniel Seiffert (Photographer and Photo editor), moderated by Franciska JC Schmitt (Freelance Author and Art Mediator). The celebration culminates with an Open House – C/O Berlin Birthday Special on July 20 from 2pm–midnight, including free admission, music by DJ femdelic, guided tours, a live act by Sera Kalo, and an open-air film screening of Julian Rosefeldt’s award winning film Manifesto as well as the accompanying documentary Making Manifesto.