Abdulhamid Kircher: Rotting from Within

In his analogue photographic and installative practice, the German-Turkish artist Abdulhamid Kircher (b. 1996) reflects on the consequences of patriarchy and violence, as well as on the search for reconciliation and closeness. He understands his work as a fragmentary, living family album. In doing so, he circles around the absence of the father, a void that becomes a canvas for longing and projection. “Perhaps I am the one who has to love him first,” says Abdulhamid Kircher.

The exhibition Rotting from Within welcomes visitors with a sprawling panorama of photographs, texts, and archival material. The newly developed installation, 9 meters wide and more than 2 meters high, interweaves scenes, encounters, and farewells between Berlin and Turkey, through which the dynamics of a father-son relationship gradually emerge, like pieces of a puzzle coming together. In this presentation, Abdulhamid Kircher also expands the focus to include his paternal grandfather.

The father-son constellations in the photographs speak of loneliness, addiction, violence, and injury, but also of rapprochement, intoxication, touch, and grief. Kircher’s visual language – vibrant colors, high-contrast lighting moods and emotional frequencies – intensifies the immediacy and vulnerability of his subjects. The darkroom becomes a space of reflection and experience in which memories, relationships, and personal stories come to light.

Curated by Nadine Isabelle Henrich, curator at the House of Photography. Curatorial assistance: Viktoria Rochambeau, curatorial trainee, House of Photography.

Accompanying the exhibition as part of the 9th Triennial of Photography, an accordion-fold booklet will be published featuring image sequences from Abdulhamid Kircher’s family archive and works from the series Rotting from Within, as well as a text by Nadine Isabelle Henrich.