Wanderings Through History. The Photographs of Ulrich Wüst

Wanderings Through History.
The Photographs of Ulrich Wüst

Exhibition by ifa (Institute for Foreign Relations)
10.09. – 22.11.2026
Curator: Matthias Flüge

▪️Opening: 10.09., Thursday, 18:00
▪️Curatorial tour: 12.09., Saturday, 16:00
📍Sofia City Art Gallery, second floor

For the fourth time, the Goethe-Institut Bulgaria and the Sofia City Art Gallery focus on contemporary German photography. After the presentations of Sibylle Bergemann (2022), Barbara Klemm (2023), and Helga Paris (2024), it is now time for the first male perspective behind the lens – Ulrich Wüst.

Ulrich Wüst's work began to attract attention in the 1980s primarily with numerous urban landscapes captured in various locations in the GDR. These images show the scars of World War II and the relentless decay of the historical architectural fabric. However, at the center of his photographic interests are the absurdities in the urban environment, which arise from both negligence and ignorance, as well as from senseless destruction and uncontrolled construction. Thus, with the help of his camera, Wüst develops his own visual approach to critiquing architecture. Even today, his gaze has not lost its sharpness. Wüst's position is essentially not ideological but rather conveys a sense of captured phenomena that provide space for both subtle humor and irony.

Ulrich Wüst's work can be viewed from various perspectives. The captured observations rest on the German division and its overcoming. At the same time, they always relate to the universal phenomenon of social change and its material manifestations. At first glance laconic, these extremely precise images in terms of composition are the result of prolonged visual wanderings through places from the most recent German history. (Matthias Flüge)

Ulrich Wüst
Born in Magdeburg in 1949
1967 – 1972 studied at the University of Architecture and Construction in Weimar, graduated in "Urban Planning"
1972 moved to East Berlin
1972 – 1983 worked as an urban planner and photo editor
Since 1984 freelance photographer in Berlin and Schönhof, Mecklenburg
2000 Helen Abbott Award
2021 Art Award of the State of Saxony-Anhalt

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Exhibition tours led by art historian Zheni Decheva:

• 3.10., Saturday, 16:00
• 31.10., Saturday, 16:00
• 21.10., Saturday, 16:00

*The exhibition tours are free after paying an entrance fee.

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"Wanderings Through History. The Photographs of Ulrich Wüst" is an exhibition by Ifa (Institute for Foreign Relations) and is presented at the Sofia City Art Gallery in partnership with the Goethe-Institut Bulgaria.

• Idea and selection – Matthias Flüge and Alexander Lizhevski in collaboration with Ulrich Wüst
• Realization, organization, technical execution Alexander Lizhevski
• Coordinator Goethe-Institut Bulgaria – Elizabeta Zaykova
• Assistant curator – Gergana Mihova
• Curator from SGHAG – Stanislava Nikolova
• Translation and tours – Zheni Decheva
• Logistic partner of the event – Cargo Planet