Art | Culture

Finissage: Death and Life. Power and powerlessness

Wilhelm Warning in conversation with the artist and photographer Herlinde Koelbl about her current exhibition.
Friday, 10.11.2023
© Johannes Rodach
© Johannes Rodach

Herlinde Koelbl raises many questions, such as the relationship between power and powerlessness. About ethics and morality of human action in the face of killing. About killing to save life, one's own and that of others. About the value of a human life, given by God in its individual particularity. This, too, is reflected in the exhibition in many portraits that bring home the individuality, dignity and preciousness of the gift of life. Death and life. Wilhelm Warning

Special note:

Registration for the event is not necessary.

Programme of the event:

This is how the photographer, documentary filmmaker and author author Herlinde Koelbl begins her essay on a project that she called "targets". Around the world, she photographed the shooting targets of soldiers who learn to kill as efficiently as efficiently as possible, extinguishing lives with one shot. with one shot. Torn cardboard comrades, tinny heads, plastic bodies. Not gaming, but practice for the emergency. Dress rehearsal for war. Human figures as shooting targets. The exhibition shows the opponent as a threatening object in human form, stripped of all individuality individuality, just as the uniformity of the uniformed soldiers uniformity deprives the uniformed soldiers of the fullness of their personality. personality from the uniformed soldiers. Photos do not judge, but rather but impressively condense image after image. Herlinde Koelbl thus raises many questions: for example about the relationship between power and powerlessness. About ethics and morality of human behaviour in in the face of killing. About killing in order to save lives, one's own own and that of others. About the value of a human life human life, given by God in its individual individual uniqueness. This is also reflected in the exhibition in many portraits that bring home the individuality, dignity and preciousness of the gift of life. Death and life. Wilhelm Warning

Other current events

Vatican Media/Romano Siciliani/KNA
Habemus Papam IV
Gespräch mit Dr. h.c. mult. Annette Schavan und Stefan von Kempis
Wednesday, 04.06.2025
Patriarch Bartholomäus I. erhält „Ökumenischen Preis der Katholischen Akademie“ und „Abt-Emmanuel-Heufelder-Preis“
Friday, 06.06.2025
happymore/shutterstock
Wenn das Wachstum endet
Neue Perspektiven für Religion, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaftlichkeit
Tuesday, 01.07.2025
Vatican Media/Romano Siciliani/KNA
Habemus Papam V
Gespräch mit Sr. Dr. Katharina Ganz OSF
Wednesday, 02.07.2025

From the event archive

Being there is not everything. We document our events - free of charge for you - as text, audio or video to give the lectures and discussions a higher reach.

Aree_S/shutterstock
EBEN European Business Ethics Network Annual Conference 2025
29.05.2025
Vatican Media/Romano Siciliani/KNA
Gespräch mit Prof. Dr. Thomas Söding
28.05.2025
BR Astrid Ackermann
Bernhard Neuhoff in conversation with Sir Simon Rattle
27.05.2025

Many more interesting topics

Being there is not everything. We document our events - free of charge for you - as text, audio or video to give the lectures and discussions a higher reach.

You can find the presentations of past events in our media library.