Fotosommer Stuttgart — UNORDNUNG

Fotosommer Stuttgart — Stuttgart's Photography Festival

Fotosommer Stuttgart is one of the most important photography festivals in Southern Germany and is organized in cooperation with the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart as the central venue. Each year, an international jury selects around 20 contemporary photographers who work on an annual theme. The results are presented in a curated exhibition, supplemented by artist talks, lectures, workshops, and a supporting program.

UNORDNUNG — The 2026 Theme

The theme for 2026 is 'UNORDNUNG' (Disorder). The festival organizers formulate the curatorial question as follows: To what extent can the dissolution of existing orders be experienced as loss or gain? In a time when political, ecological, social, and aesthetic orders are reorganizing themselves, the question is as theoretical as it is practical — and a fertile ground for photography as a medium that always structures reality and shows its fractures.

What You'll Experience

The main exhibition at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (THE GÄLLERY) features works by around 20 artists — documentary photography, conceptual works, installations, mixed media. The selection is made by a top-class international jury from an open application process. During the festival week (July 17–26), there will be opening receptions, artist talks, lectures, and guided tours. The exhibition continues until September 13.

Staatsgalerie Stuttgart as a Venue

The Staatsgalerie Stuttgart is one of Germany's most significant art museums — a institution with a collection spanning from the Middle Ages to the present day, housed in a historic building (Gottlob Georg Barth, 1843) and the New Staatsgalerie building (James Stirling, 1984). In the THE GÄLLERY section, it offers its own platform for contemporary art — a constellation that the festival utilizes ideally: photography as contemporary art, in Württemberg's most prominent art museum.

Stuttgart as a City of Photography

Stuttgart has a strong photography tradition — the State Academy of Fine Arts has a renowned photography class, the Haus der Wirtschaft hosted photo exhibitions for years, and the Württembergische Landesbibliothek maintains an important photographic collection. Fotosommer makes this tradition publicly visible and connects it with international contemporary photography.