Women on the Move – From Tradition to Action in Eastern Europe

The exhibition “Women on the Move” shows work by photographers from Eastern Europe who are documenting socio-political movements in their home countries and questioning traditional images of women.

From the women’s marches in Belarus to the fight against abortion restrictions in Poland: women in Eastern Europe have been attracting attention as political actors for years. Yet, they have their own historical socialisation patterns: although they were considered relatively equal under communism, they usually had to combine gainful employment with sole responsibility for housework and child-rearing. Nowadays, strongly traditional gender roles seem incompatible with the self-understandings of this new generation of women. With the exhibition “Women on the Move”, the Society for Humanistic Photography (Gesellschaft für Humanistische Fotografie) asks: how do they see themselves? And what do we see in them?

The photographs show Eastern European societies that are “between action and tradition”. The subjects they are dealing with are protest, generations and role models.

Women on the Move presents photographers who are little known in Germany. The exhibition shows Eastern Europe directly from the perspective of local people and advocates for freedom of expression and democratic participation. We support this linkage between art, journalism and activism.