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With 8 erweiterte portraits the Kunstverein für Mecklenburg und Vorpommern in Schwerin presents an exhibition that places the work of Austrian photographer Cora Pongracz (1943–2003) in focus. Through the medium of photography Pongracz’s works open a dialogue about identity and a politics of representation that is sensitive towards diversity. In order to reflect both the significance and the potential of Pongracz’s artistic practice in the context of current social discourses, a number of contemporary artists have been invited to respond and relate to Pongracz’s work through their own photographs, texts, performances, and other forms of critical interventions, throughout the exhibition.

For Schwerin’s Cultural Night 2025, the exhibition 8 erweiterte portraits expands dialogically into the urban space of the city. The Goldener Saal [Golden Hall] at the Neustädtisches Palais, formerly the Widow’s Palace and today the Ministry of Justice, is occupied by choreographer and dancer Deva Schubert with her performance Glitch Choir, which further develops and choreographically reinterprets the discourse on identity as well as on image and representation politics in relation to this historic building. Glitch Choir transfers the phenomenon of the glitch (a disruption in the transmission of digital information, such as a distorted image or stuttering video) into the analog realm. At the heart of the piece is the recomposition of a lament through glitching. Historically, public mourning was primarily performed by women, who, for payment, gave expression to the grief of others for the deceased. It is mostly women who are allowed—or condemned—to glitch the private into the public. The performers create a collective body of mourning by establishing a space of intimate resonance. In the vocal distortion inherent to the lament, a transformation of grief into a collective glitch takes place.