Refugees In A State Apartment

In his photo composition entitled »Refugees In A State Apartment«, the Berlin-based artist Jens Ullrich documents the arrival of refugees in the central reception center in Berlin-Moabit: Alien in the country of arrival, the people waiting move in a type of no-man’s land. In his photo compositions, Ullrich imagines a new living space: He installs the refugees in historic black-and-white photos of an industrialist’s villa in Bremen that is up for sale. For a fleeting moment, they take their place in the magnificent interior – a strange atmosphere is created, changing between intimacy and rootlessness.

The historic photos, in which Ullrich positions the refugees, show the interior of a hundred-room house: After the wool company of the former owner went bankrupt, the house was initially converted into a rest home for mothers, then used as a officers’ mess, hospital, refugee center and lastly as a clinic for drug addicts. Today, the property is up for sale on the Internet.