Corina Gertz — The averted portrait

“By removing body proportions and skin colour from view, the clothing and its attributes emerge as cultural constants, reflecting both individuality and a sense of belonging across regions and generations.”

Based in Düsseldorf and working globally, Corina Gertz is a photographic artist whose practice is rooted in her background in fashion and costume design. Her long-standing research investigates garments as primary mediums for cultural identity and non-verbal communication.

In her acclaimed series The Averted Portrait, Corina photographs women in traditional dress exclusively from behind, against a monochrome black background — a deliberate antithesis to the frontal portraits that dominate contemporary visual culture. By decentering the individual, the textile itself becomes a vessel for historical narratives, symbolic codes, and collective belonging.

Corina's award-winning practice has been exhibited internationally at institutions including MARTA Herford, the Lianzhou Photo Museum, the Shanghai Art Museum, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. In 2025, her work was integrated into the Purple Path, the regional art trail curated for Chemnitz's tenure as European Capital of Culture.

Her oeuvre synthesizes documentary precision, minimalist aesthetic clarity, and conceptual depth — contributing to contemporary discourses on gender, material textile culture, and post-colonial representation.

Corina now wants to continue The Averted Portrait in Georgia, collaborating with ethnological museums, academic institutions, and local folklore groups. The stay will allow her to deepen her understanding of Georgian culture and contribute to intercultural dialogue, while her systematic cataloguing supports the preservation of intangible cultural heritage. In Georgia, she will focus on textile practices, cultural identity, and questions of visibility — exploring the connections between fabric, body, history, and memory as a visual plea for diversity, remembrance, and respect.

Funding

Through the venturenauten community, Corina is receiving:

Networking and on-the-ground support for the project's expansion to Georgia, and in the future to Armenia
Connections to the Sukhishvili Dance Ensemble, to the owner of Georgia's largest collection of traditional costumes, and to relevant museums
A studio for the shoots and accommodation

Furthermore, Corina is seeking: