Introduction

In her photography, Annette Kelm (*1975) often adapts styles and genres such as still life, object, architecture, and landscape photography. She intentionally falls short of fulfilling the conventions of these genres. By questioning the photographic forms of representation in terms of their semantic charge, subtle ambiguities of meaning infiltrate the depiction. The showcased objects appear both familiar and distant simultaneously, turning appropriation into commentary.

This perspective extends to her exploration of the theme of Nazi book burnings. In her recent exhibition, "Die Bücher," specifically curated for the Salon Berlin at the Museum Frieder Burda, Annette Kelm captures a selection of books that were stigmatized as "un-German" from 1933 onwards. Set against the backdrop of the museum's premises and the historical context of the building, a former Jewish girls' school, Kelm pays tribute to these books as "survivors" that have endured through time. She assigns them a significant role in collective memory on behalf of their authors.