Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation appoints Mariama Attah as Associate Curator for the Art Collection Deutsche Börse

Mariama Attah is a photography curator, editor, and lecturer. Having worked at Foam Magazine, Amsterdam, and Photoworks, Brighton, she is now Head of Exhibitions at Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool. Attah is particularly interested in the representational potential of photography and its importance in shaping a diverse visual culture. She focuses on artistic positions that depict and address the ethnic, gender-related, religious and social diversity of society. The discovery and visualisation of marginalised artistic positions as well as a socially engaged curatorial practice form important elements in Attah’s work.

Since its establishment in 2015, the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation has been responsible for the development and presentation of the Art Collection Deutsche Börse. Exhibiting and supporting contemporary photography as well as continuously expanding the collection are the cornerstones of the Foundation’s commitment. In its activities, the charitable institution strives to represent a variety of artistic positions, strategies, and themes.

To further deepen these efforts, the Photography Foundation has appointed Mariama Attah to advise on the selection of works of the highest quality for the Art Collection Deutsche Börse. With her experience in integrating diverse perspectives and narratives, Attah will help to strengthen the Foundation’s commitment to the visibility and promotion of underrepresented artist groups as well as to enrich the collection with new perspectives. Together with Anne-Marie Beckmann, Curator of the collection and Director of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, Attah will develop an exhibition concept to present the new acquisitions on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Art Collection Deutsche Börse in 2024. The show will illustrate how the new artworks fit into and complement the existing artistic positions of the collection.

“Diversity and inclusion are indispensable factors for the future development of the Art Collection Deutsche Börse, and have been a focus of our commitment for many years. To consolidate these efforts and realise them in the long term, new perspectives and specialised expertise are required. We see these developments as part of an ongoing process that needs targeted support,” says Anne-Marie Beckmann. “As the first Associate Curator of the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, Mariama Attah will provide important impulses for the continued expansion of the collection. I am very much looking forward to sharing exciting ideas and taking the next steps together.”

“I am thrilled that the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation has invited me to contribute my expertise to the collection’s future development. With the Art Collection Deutsche Börse, the Foundation has responsibility for an extraordinary collection of contemporary photography with an impressive range of artworks that illustrate the significance of the medium and can be used as a basis for telling fascinating stories,” says Mariama Attah. “I am also very much looking forward to the exhibition of works from the collection that we will be curating together next year. It will reveal how the new acquisitions enhance and complement the existing body of the collection.”

The Art Collection Deutsche Börse is among the most important collections of international contemporary photography. Established in 1999, the collection now comprises more than 2,300 works by around 160 artists from 33 countries. The Art Collection is dedicated to the central themes of photography since the Mid-20th century. The visual languages and photographic approaches represented in the collection are as diverse as the background, age, or artistic method of the photographers, ranging from documentary to conceptual approaches. Each position offers its own perspective on the collection’s central theme, the “conditio humana”, the exploration of the conditions of human existence and its position in the world. A comprehensive programme of exhibitions and events is planned for the 25th anniversary of the Art Collection Deutsche Börse in 2024.