Current exhibition

On 3 August 2014, the “Islamic State” (IS) attacked the Kurdish region of Sinjar in Iraq, which is home primarily to Yazidis. Around 10,000 Yazidi men and around 7,000 women were abducted and systematically raped and enslaved for years. 400,000 Yazidis were forced to flee their homes. Alexander Fichtner documents the living conditions of these people following their flight and offers an insight into their lives. During a press trip to the Sheikhan refugee camp in the province of North Kurdistan, he captured images that are both stark and intimate. Even ten years later, many are still living in tents.

Alexander Fichtner, born in Herten in 1979 and raised in the Ruhr region, works as a freelance photographer, journalist and artist. He studied fine art and photography at the FAdBK in Essen, graduating as a master student under Professor Stephan Paul Schneider. He also studied journalism and public relations at Gelsenkirchen University of Applied Sciences. His research has taken him to the Baltic states, the Balkans and the Caucasus. His photographic work straddles the line between journalistic precision and artistic expression, without distorting reality. It is precisely the absence of people that characterises many of his images, lending them a distinctive atmosphere of silence, emptiness and isolation. Places and objects thus emerge as the true narrators.

Exhibition opening hours

5 May – 23 June 2026

Mon–Thu & Sat–Sun | 10.00 – 17.00
Fri | 10.00 – 15.00

Until 19.00 during events

Upcoming Exhibition: Judith Büthe | BETWEEN YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW | September 3 – October 11, 2026

Opening Reception on September 3, 2026