Press Release

Press Release | Berlin, 05/28/2015

Remarkable Photo Exhibition ‘Last Folio’ Extended

Berlin State Library and Bertelsmann pleased about great public interest

The remarkable photo exhibition “Last Folio – Textures of Jewish Life in Slovakia,” which has been on view at the Berlin State Library since April, has been extended by a month through August 1, 2015. The State Library and the media company Bertelsmann, which actively sponsors the exhibition, are thereby responding to the keen public interest “Last Folio” has engendered in recent weeks.

Thirty-three art photographs by the renowned photographer Yuri Dojc are currently on display in the foyer of the Haus am Kulturforum (Berlin State Library Cultural Forum). Dojc had repeatedly traveled to Slovakia – first alone and then from 2005 together with the filmmaker Katya Krausova – to speak with Holocaust survivors and document evidence of ancient Jewish culture in the country. In their research, Yuri Dojc and Katya Krausova discovered places where time stood still and things were left exactly as they had been in 1942 when the former inhabitants were deported. Many of the pictures show dilapidated books and documents that are almost representative of the people who never came back. Unique in their authenticity, aesthetics and intensity, the photographs give an idea of the destroyed Jewish world in Slovakia and send a reminder, 70 years after the end of World War II, to draw lessons from what happened.

The “Last Folio” exhibition had already been on view in the U.S. and U.K., Slovakia and Italy – as well as the European Commission in Brussels and the UN in New York before first travelling to Germany. The art book publisher Prestel, part of Verlagsgruppe Random House, published a 128-page companion book (in German and English) that tells of Yuri Dojc and Katya Krausova’s quest in essays and 60 color illustrations.

Exhibition “Last Folio – Textures of Jewish Life in Slovakia”
Dates: April 23 to August 1, 2015
Venue: Foyer of the Berlin State Library Cultural Forum, Potsdamer Strasse 33
Open: Monday to Friday 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, Saturday 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM, free admission

Last Folio - A photographic memory / Ein fotografisches Gedächtnis
Yuri Dojc and Katya Krausova
Bilingual edition (English/German), 128 pages with 60 color illustrations
Clothbound hardcover with dust jacket, 29 x 31cm
€ 39.95 [D] / € 41.10 [A], CHF 53.90
ISBN: 978-3-7913-8145-9
Published by Prestel Verlag

NOTE: More information, video and pictures can be found on our website at: http://www.bertelsmann.com/news-and-media/specials/last-folio/ 

About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the broadcaster RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr, the service providers Arvato and Be Printers, the music rights company BMG and the e-learning provider Relias Learning. The company has more than 112,000 employees and generated revenues of €16.7 billion in financial year 2014. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This combination promotes the creation of first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world.