A major part of Berlin Fotofestival 2013 is the transnational project “Open the shutters”, exploring the role of photography in historic and recent conflict situations in Europe and beyond. Together with Partners from Derry Northern Ireland (Nerve Center and City of Culture Company) and Dubrovnik, Croatia (War Photo LTD), festival organizer “Community Impulse Initiative e.V., has developed a multipart common exhibition “Beyond the Walls“, first on display at Berlin Fotofestival 2013 and then staged in different variations in Derry (NI) and Dubrovnik later in the year.

The Berlin version of “Beyond the Walls” comprises of a collection of images from the exhibition “Picturing Derry” , showing photography of “The Troubles” 1969 in Northern Ireland, the exhibition BROKEN LIGHTS of Yugoslavia, a photographic journey through the wars that broke the republics, broke the communities and broke the people of the former Yugoslavia by Emmanuel Ortiz and an indoor and outdoor exhibition of large scale panorama photos of Kai Wiedenhöfer`s WALL ON WALL project.

Furthermore “Open the Shutters” at Berlin Fotofestival presents a series of lectures, screenings and workshops by international conflict and documentary photographers (i.e. Kai Wiedenhöfer, Robert King, Geert van Kesteren, Rob Hornstra, Wolf Böwig) and media experts looking at various styles and means of communication and public impact of photography in situiations of societal conflict and war and discuss contemporary challenges of finding new ways of fulfilling their job in a time of financial cut backs for editorial photojournalism due to the rise of the internet and digital media conversion.

Funded with the support of the EU Culture program of the European Union.