Poetic passages

Bettina Flitner’s series “Boatpeople” put a unique object centre stage: a traditional Burmese boat. The photographer bought the wooden fishing boat at Inle Lake, situated on a plateau high in the Shan Hills along the Chinese border, and transported it to Cologne, where it sits on the Rhine. Filtner photographs a broad range of personalities and groups aboard the craft – including managers, nuns, and transvestites – creating a poetic, calming and humorous procession. The people appear to be on a journey of discovery, moving along the current of life. Self-aware and in distinctive poses, they are the lead actors in theatrical arrangements. We curiously and affectionately speculate about the people’s identities, and we sense the photographer’s joy in telling their stories.

Flitner draws cleverly from the genres of film and photography for her works. She uses her experience as an editor and director to ensure these remarkable projects produce powerful narrative moments. What begins as an idea becomes, through image composition, props, and the choice of distinctive subjects, a harmonious work of art.

Christina Wendenburg

1961	Born in Cologne, Germany
	Editor at WDR, Germany
1986-1992	Studied at Deutschen Film- und Fernsehakademie, Berlin, Germany
1989-present	Professional Photographer

Solo Exhibitions (Selection)

2011	Muscarelle Museum of Art, Williamsburg, USA
	Frauenmuseum Wiesbaden, Germany
2009	Urania, Berlin, Germany
2007	Biblioteca National, Madrid, Spain
	Tour&Taxis, Brussels, Belgium
2005	Tampere Art Museum, Tampere, Finland
2004	Swiss Re, Munich, Germany
2003	Frauenmuseum Wiesbaden, Loeper, Germany
2002	Museum für Kommunikation, Berlin, Germany
2001-2002	Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipeh, Taiwan
2001	Ich bin stolz ein Rechter zu sein, Art Cologne, Cologne, Germany
1998	Suermondt, Ludwig Museum, Aachen, Germany
1996	Der Rächer von Dresden Photography-Installation at the festival, Theater der Welt, Dresden, Germany
	Mein Herz Photography-Installation at the Lustgarten Berlin, Germany
	Brückenschlag Photography-Installation, Cologne, Germany

Group Exhibitions (Selection)

2010	Galerie Zellermayer, Berlin, Germany
2009	Fotofestival Lodz, Fotofestival Luxembourg
2008	ART Cologne, Germany
	Studio Marangoni, Florenz, Italy
2006	Am Strom, Galerie Holtmann, Cologne, Germany
	ART Cologne, Germany
2003	wonderlands, Museum Küppersmühle Sammlung, Grothe, Germany
1999	ART Cologne, Galerie von Loeper, Germany
1997	Fotofestival Groningen, Netherlands
1996	Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp, Belgium
1995	Deutschland-Zyklus, 3rd Internationales Bildforum, Herten, Germany
1993	Sie nennen es Liebe, Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst, Berlin, Germany
	Contemporary German Photography, The Light Factory, North Carolina, USA
1991	Krieg für Frieden, Elefanten-Press Galerie, Berlin, Germany

www.bettinaflitner.de

Books/Catalogs (Selection)

Nicht als Frau geboren. Emma-Verlag, 1988
Reportage aus dem Niemandsland. Elefanten-Press, 1990
Gefangen in Zoo, zweitausendeins. 1993
Mein Herz-Mein Feind-Mein Denkmal – Drei Fotoessays. Emma-Verlag, 1995
Mitten ins Herz, Reportagen und Installationen. Edition Braus, 1998
L’Europe au Féminin. Éditions de la Martinière, 2004
Frauen mit Visionen – 48 Europäerinnen. Knesebeck-Verlag, 2006
Frauen die forschen – 25 Spitzenforscherinnen. Collection Rolf Heyne, 2008
Boatpeople. Emma-Verlag 2012
Reisen in Burma. Dumont Bucherverlag, 2012

Additional Information

Movies

1999	Die Ministerin, Documentary, WDR, Germany
1994	Mein Feind, Documentary, screened at the Berlinale Festival in the category Neue deutsche Filme, Berlin, Germany
1991	Aktenzeichen XX-ungelöst, Motion Picture at RTL, Germany
1989	Das Fest, Documentary, WDR, Germany
1988	Ich, Short Film