Germany
Anja Bohnhof
Visual Artist & Documentary Photographer
🏛️ Bauhaus University Weimar / Cologne Univ. of Applied Sciences
Quick Overview
"My life is my message."
— Mahatma Gandhi on Lived Practice & Legacy"Tracking Gandhi — A Photographic Journey"
Presentation Overview & Abstract
Presenting insights from her acclaimed five-year photographic project "Tracking Gandhi" (completed in 2019), which traces Mahatma Gandhi's personal, political, and spiritual journey across India, Bangladesh, South Africa, and Europe. The lecture explores how photography can serve as a medium for historical memory, intercultural dialogue, and contemporary reflections on Ahimsa and human dignity.
About Anja Bohnhof
Anja Bohnhof is a German visual artist and photographer whose work explores the relationship between history, memory, places, and contemporary society. After completing professional training in photography, she studied Visual Communication and Fine Arts at Bauhaus University Weimar. Since 2004, she has worked as an independent artist. From 2006 to 2014, she taught Photography and Editorial Practice at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences.
Her works have been exhibited and published internationally, received numerous grants and awards, and are represented in prominent collections, reflecting her recognition within the field of contemporary photography and visual art. In 2015, she received the Gisela Bonn Award from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the German-Indian Society in recognition of her contribution to German-Indian cultural relations through her artistic work. Her work is represented by Galerie m in Germany.
After spending many years exploring themes of recent German history, India has become a central focus of her artistic practice since 2009. Her landmark long-term project "Tracking Gandhi", completed in 2019, was developed over five years of intensive research and photographic work. Following the geographical traces of Mahatma Gandhiji’s life and work, Anja Bohnhof travelled to significant locations in India, Bangladesh, South Africa, and Europe that were connected to Gandhiji’s personal, political, and spiritual journey.
At the invitation of the organizers, Anja Bohnhof will present insights from "Tracking Gandhi" and curate the Global Gandhi Footprints Photography Exhibition at the conference.