Karolin Klüppel
Kingdom of Girls
October 5, 2017—October 29, 2017
From 2013-2015 Karolin Klüppel made extended visits to the Indian village of Mawlynnong to live alongside the indigenous Khasi people. Klüppel was especially intrigued to their matrilineal traditions, which include the passing down of land to the youngest daughters in each family and children taking on their mothers’ last names. Because of the reverence for women in this society, she began working with the young girls in the village to create photographs of them at play. In many cases, Klüppel incorporated her subjects’ ideas for settings and poses into her rich color portraits, providing viewers with a glimpse into the daily lives and imaginations of the young girls growing up in this unique and supportive environment.
Karolin Klüppel (b. 1985) studied at the School of Art and Design in Kassel and at the Faculdade de Belas Artes in Lisbon and holds an MFA in photography. Since 2012 she has concentrated on personal projects and often spends months abroad. Her work is primarily focused on gender relations and matrilineal or matriarchal societies. She regularly exhibits in galleries, museums, and festivals, including the “Voies Off” festival in Arles in 2012 and “Festival Circulation(s)“ in Paris in 2015. Kingdom of Girls has won several awards, including the Canon Profifoto Award 2014 and the Bourse du Talent #62 Portrait Award and has been published in international magazines such as The New York Times, The Independent, The Huffington Post, and The Washington Post. A monograph of the series was also recently published by Hatje Cantz in 2016.