15th Noorderlicht International Photofestival
Behind Walls, Eastern Europe before 1989

September 7 - October 26, 2008

Opening September 6th (invitee only), Guest of honour Antanas Sutkus (founder and chairman of the Association of Lithuanian Art Photographers)
Venue: Fries Museum, Leeuwarden, the Netherlands

Main exhibition
Behind Walls, Eastern Europe before 1989
Never before has photography from all the former Eastern Bloc countries been brought together in a large-scale presentation. With contributions by 37 photographers from 13 countries, Noorderlicht brings to life a world that ceased to exist in 1989.
Almost twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall Noorderlicht reveals a forgotten wealth of impressive and historically interesting photography, providing a unique insight into life and photography under the repressive regimes behind the Iron Curtain.

Behind Walls is the final edition of a quintet on non-Western photography. The previous editions included Africa Inside, Mundos Creados, Nazar and Another Asia.

Extra: Ancillary show
Beyond Walls, Eastern Europe after 1989
A new Eastern Europe has arisen since 1989. With a critical gaze a new generation of photographers from East and West investigate the enormous social changes in the young democracies. They tell an intriguing story of a world full of contradictions, where the heroic worker has had to transform himself into a critical consumer and a dynamic present still bears the scars of an emotionally charged past.

About Noorderlicht
Noorderlicht is highly regarded internationally as a passionate and dynamic institution that is able to couple socially engaged content with visual beauty. Since its inception in 1980 Noorderlicht aims to forge exceptional, quality photography into a narrative whole in a highly imaginative manner.