Safekeeping and Storage

In his work “Past Perfect” the British photographer Jason Larkin has a close look at the museum as a place of archiving. Until June 19, 2016 at the Museum für Photographie Braunschweig, Germany.

In his multi-piece work “Past Perfect” Larkin examines here the representational forms of historical museums in a photographic approach that is critical of institutions. The way in which the past is “conserved” and exhibited in the selection, presentation and integration into the framing narrative determines here how history is remembered and at the same time contributes considerably to the construction of interpretations, points of view and ideologies.

Larkin’s photographic tableaux perform a visual analysis of museum forms of presentation and increase the observer’s awareness for the theatrics of the display. With Past Perfect the Museum für Photographie Braunschweig has realized Larkin’s first solo exhibition in a museum in Europe, the concept of compilation focusing on displays found in military and war museums.

Jason Larkin was born in 1979 and completed his MA in 2007. He moved to Egypt in 2007 for his work and has lived in Johannesburg and Great Britain since 2010. In 2014 he won an award from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. His work has been shown in numerous group exhibitions such as the Brighton Photography Biennial (UK, 2014), Unseen Festival (Amsterdam, NL, 2014), Shanghai Art Fair (CHN, 2014), Flowers Gallery (NYC, USA, 2014) and Total Arts Gallery (Dubai, VAE, 2013).

Please find detailed information at Museum für Photographie Braunschweig e.V.