Leica Galerie Munich presents works by Xiomara Bender. Under the title "25 Million. North Korea. The Power of Dreams, 2011 - 2019," Leica Galerie Munich will show works by Leica photographer Xiomara Bender from January 15 to March 31, 2022, providing impressive insights into the unknown country of North Korea.
© Xiomara Bender, 25 Million. North Korea. The Power of Dreams, 2011 - 2019
With the exhibition "25 Million. North Korea. The Power of Dreams, 2011 - 2019" by Xiomara Bender, Stefan Huber, gallery owner of Leica Galerie Munich, presents works by a photographer who undoubtedly belongs to the avant-garde of young photo artists. Like hardly any other Western photographer, Xiomara Bender has succeeded in the last ten years in traveling to the hermetically sealed country of North Korea several times, getting to know it and documenting it photographically. While the first trip had to follow a predefined dramaturgy of a state-organized tour, she succeeded in leaving the predefined routes during numerous later visits, characterized by ambitious curiosity. She wanted to form her own picture of the seemingly faceless country in order to discover the true stories behind a carefully constructed facade - those of worries and fears, of wishes and longings, of individual happiness as opposed to collective bliss.
© Xiomara Bender, 25 Million. North Korea. The Power of Dreams, 2011 - 2019
The exhibition "25 Million. North Korea. The Power of Dreams, 2011 - 2019" offers visitors to the Leica Galerie Munich from January 15 to March 31, 2022 incomparable and at the same time impressive insights behind the scenes of a sometimes surreal production of a country that is usually described in the media as a melange of nuclear madness and mass psychotic monotony. In the project "25 Million. North Korea. The Power of Dreams, 2011 - 2019", it was particularly important for Xiomara Bender to convey with the photographs the degree of closeness to the people portrayed in her everyday life, which arouses curiosity in the viewers borne by empathy. "The people of North Korea live and survive with dignity through the power of their dreams. Their faces tell those stories that thus bring us closer to a country whose people deserve undivided attention and unbiased sympathy," says Xiomara Bender about the people living in North Korea and her work as a photographer. She most recently visited North Korea in September 2019 on the occasion of the 71st anniversary of the founding of the state.
© Xiomara Bender, 25 Million. North Korea. The Power of Dreams, 2011 - 2019
Xiomara Bender
The German-Swiss photographer was born in Basel in 1987, left her home country at the age of 17 and went to India to finish her school education. She then attended the Technische Kunsthochschule in Berlin. Since graduating, she has been working as a freelance photographer. Numerous national and international awards, such as the C/O Berlin Foundation "Close Up!" and the International Photography Award, pay tribute to her distinctive visual language early in her career. In 2016, Kehrer Verlag published her book "North Korea. The Power of Dreams", with which she won the German Photography Book Award 2018 of the Hochschule der Medien in silver. The series has been shown in numerous galleries. Her work has appeared in "Stern" and "Zeit," among other publications.
© Xiomara Bender, 25 Million. North Korea. The Power of Dreams, 2011 - 2019
Xiomara Bender
25 Million. North Korea. The Power of Dreams, 2011 - 2019
Leica Galerie München
Maffeistraße 4 | D-80333 München
January 15 until March 31, 2022
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