New Dawn For Europe

In collaboration with Paul Raftery, Anise Gallery presents New Dawn For Europe, an exhibition documenting sites of significant – and often dangerous – protest across Europe.

During this turbulent period they were sites of significant and often dangerous protest. They were the sites where the fundamental desire for democracy manifested itself.

At these sites people of all ages came together to demand political change and an end to communism. Each country subsequently became a member of the EU, and each location in each country has its own history and its own cultural and political references.

Over the last three years, since the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Wall in 1989, photographer Paul Raftery has visited these sites, shooting them all at dawn – the beginning of a new day and the beginning of a political era. The work is a meditation on the use of public spaces and an investigation of memory, democracy and place.

These sites have even more relevance now in 2022 when many of these countries live in fear of a return to autocracy.

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Paul Raftery is a photographer of the built environment with an international reputation who has been shooting around the world for more than 30 years. Following his last exhibition at Anise Gallery, Berlin Voids, Paul was invited to show the work at the Stiftung Berliner Mauer (Berlin Wall Memorial).

His films (made with Dan Lowe) have been shown in numerous galleries and festivals, including the New York Architecture Film Festival and the city’s Gagosian Gallery.

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Exhibition open Friday – Sunday 12 – 5pm