SABINE VON BASSEWITZ

Cluster Photography & Print Exhibitor | AI Showcase | 2025

 
 
 

In 2006, Sabine von Bassewitz graduated from HAW Hamburg with the project Unisono, a series that has been exhibited and honoured multiple times both nationally and internationally.

Since then, Sabine has worked as a freelance artist. While their practice is multidisciplinary, it is primarily lens-based, encompassing photography and video—a medium they continue to be passionate about. In recent years, they have also explored generative AI beyond its inherent biases.

 
 
 
 
“That’s me – the small recurring tattoo is actually mine. The images in this reel are prompted descriptions of my multiple sclerosis symptoms, which are invisible to the outside world and therefore cannot be captured photographically.”
— Sabine von Bassewitz
 
 
 
 
“Restless legs syndrome, ataxia, and the Uhthoff phenomenon. Visual disturbances, a sensation of heaviness, disorientation within one’s own body, numbness, a sense of strangeness, and even ‘ignorance’ of the limbs. Non-localisable pain, limbs that are difficult to control or seem disconnected, fatigue—multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, affecting the brain and spinal cord. It typically begins in early adulthood and varies greatly in its progression, symptoms, and response to treatment from one person to another. MS is not fatal in itself, nor does it necessarily lead to a wheelchair for many of those affected. The gradual worsening of symptoms can often be slowed with medication, physiotherapy, and exercise. Cannabis can help alleviate spasticity and the frequent loss of appetite.

If you prefer a written description of these (and other) neurological disorders—beyond medical jargon and beyond the stylised afflictions of Instagram captions—I highly recommend Oliver Sacks’ classic The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (a truly wonderful book).”
— Sabine von Bassewitz
 

SELECTED WORKS

  • Unisono

  • Defiance & Utopia

  • Ordinary Cities

  • Dazzled (K)Nights

  • 49 (work in progress)

  • Willi macht rüber

  • /symptoms of multiple sclerosis

  • /village image (work in progress)

COLLECTION PARTICIPATIONS

  • Defiance & Utopia, Unisono, and Ordinary Cities—permanent collection of the Foundation House of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany, Forum of Contemporary History Leipzig

  • Unisono—permanent collection of the Museum of European Cultures, National Museums in Berlin

SOLO EXHIBITIONS (Selected, 2006–2019)

  • Ordinary Cities—official exhibition of EMoP (European Month of Photography), Galerie im Saalbau, Berlin (opening speech by Franziska Giffey)

  • Defiance & Utopia—Gallery Alles Mögliche, Berlin

  • Unisono—Gallery Linda, Hamburg

GROUP EXHIBITIONS (Selected, 2001–2025)

Exhibitions at venues including Barlach Halle K (Hamburg), Biennale der Fotografie (Barcelona), Sächsischer Landtag (Dresden), Chaussee36 (Berlin), Cluster Gallery (London), Galerie Joseph Le Palais (Paris), Gewerbemuseum (Winterthur), Haus der Wirtschaft (Stuttgart), Heinz Nixdorf Forum (Paderborn), Horizonte Zingst, Photokina (Cologne), and many others.

AWARDS & SCHOLARSHIPS (Selected, 2006–2023)

  • Scholarship from the German Federal Cultural Foundation for /village image

  • Kulturfunke 2024 for 35 Jahre Mauerfall – die innerdeutsche Grenze im Lübecker Raum (Willi macht rüber)

  • Scholarship from the Stiftung Kunstfonds for 49

  • Scholarship from VG Bildkunst for Dazzled (K)Nights and Ordinary Cities

  • Dokfünf Prize for Photography

  • Lucky Strike Junior Designer Award