KARLSRUHE.- The exhibition “everything is going to be alright” comprises mixed-media installations, a photo series, and two videos on the current topic of child abuse. The France-based media artist, Katrin Jakobsen, born in Hamburg in 1958, explains that the idea for this project developed from one of the photo series she did for the Swedish magazine Elle in 2006 on UNICEF’s aid to HIV positive children in Thailand and Cambodia. Jakobsen’s research led to her confrontation with the reality of thousands of abandoned, abused, and mistreated street children who sell their bodies to so-called sex tourists. These images pursued her so greatly that a complex artistic project, spanning several years, arose.

The twenty large-format photos in the exhibition show scenes of violence and abuse of children, a world that takes place behind closed doors. Jakobsen avoids staging voyeuristic scenes in her photos. Instead, she seeks a discursive perspective, as photographer depicting what plays out before and after an act. The camera lens is hereby covered with a condom, making the scenes appear blurry.

Katrin Jakobsen’s photographs are depictions of the scenes that play out in her mixed media installations. The artist produced the miniature film sets herself, did the interior design and lighting, and worked them out through to the smallest detail. They are compiled with the videos and photos to a comprehensive, large scale project.

Complementing the exhibition is a documentation room presenting the artist’s research and other activities in conjunction with her work on child abuse.

The exhibition will be accompanied by an extensive educational program offered by the ZKM | Museums Communication.