{"id":10305,"date":"2025-03-03T19:52:59","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T18:52:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/programm\/ausstellungen\/the-visual-sociology-of-pierre-bourdieu\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T17:17:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T16:17:06","slug":"the-visual-sociology-of-pierre-bourdieu","status":"publish","type":"ausstellungen","link":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/en\/exhibitions\/the-visual-sociology-of-pierre-bourdieu\/","title":{"rendered":"Gender – Domination – Visuality"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":10300,"template":"","class_list":["post-10305","ausstellungen","type-ausstellungen","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"blocks_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"bild_single","bild":10300},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_sans_gross_zweispaltig","text":"Media guide<\/a>","text2":"Press material<\/a>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_sans_gross","text":"Die Ausstellung zeigt thematisch ausgew\u00e4hlte Fotografien aus dem Nachlass des franz\u00f6sischen Soziologen Pierre Bourdieu, die nach seiner Aussage seine wichtigsten theoretischen Konzepte visualisierten. Bourdieu is one of the most influential voices in international sociology of the 20th century. His major works, such as The Subtle Differences<\/i> (1979) and The Misery of the World <\/i>(1997), are widely received. However, Bourdieu's early ethnographic research in Algeria between 1957 and 1961, which was conducted during the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962) under French colonial rule, is less well known. Here, his camera and the view through the viewfinder accompany him at every turn in his diverse empirical studies.\n\nIn hundreds of photographs, he captured the traces of a traditional way of life destroyed by colonial violence and the consequences of the uprooting caused by the brutal forced resettlement of large sections of the population. Bourdieu's sociological perspective focused in particular on how gender-specific everyday practices and role models manifest themselves in different social contexts - for example at work or in social activities in private and public spaces. These early observations of physical and social behaviors later became an important source of inspiration for his habitus theory and the study Die m\u00e4nnliche Herrschaft<\/i>. The exhibition therefore works with a systematic combination of image and text to make this connection clearly visible.\n\nThe exhibition is complemented by the video work created in 2024 for the Centre Pompidou in Paris by the French-Algerian artist Katia Kameli (*1973). The film was made on the occasion of the presentation of Pierre Bourdieu's Algeria paintings<\/em> there and expands on them with a contemporary cinematic reflection. In her documentary work \"L'Enqu\u00eate Bourdieu. Le Ricochet des Images\"<\/em> (\"The Bourdieu Investigation. The Ricochet of Images\", OmU English), Kameli follows Bourdieu's traces in Algeria and opens up a new, audiovisual perspective on his photographic and sociological work for the exhibition.\n\nOn 19. and November 20, 2025 the first Bourdieu Lectures<\/em> of Bielefeld University took place in the Kunsthalle Bielefeld. They form an annual symposium series organized and hosted in close cooperation with the University of Bielefeld, Zeppelin University<\/em> (Friedrichshafen), the Freiburg University of Education<\/em> and the Fondation Pierre Bourdieu.<\/em> \n\nDetails can be found on the website of the Fondation Bourdieu<\/a>."},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_sans_normal","text":"More information on the life and work of Pierre Bourdieu can be found on the website of the Fondation Bourdieu<\/a>."},{"acf_fc_layout":"logos","logos":[11548,11550,1941,11552,11584,12393],"subline":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"zwischentitel","title":"<\/a>Media guide"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content_accordion","akkordeon_default_open":false,"akkordeon":[{"titel":"Pierre Bourdieu's sociological view","inhalte":"[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/KB-2025-Medienguide-Bourdieu_PBs-soziologischer-Blick-UND-Konversion-des-Blicks.mp3\"][\/audio]\n\nIn 1955, the young Parisian philosopher Pierre Bourdieu was recruited into the Algerian War of Independence. Largely on his own, he learns the tools of empirical research. He stayed in Algeria for several years, documenting people's lives, their postures, their division of labour and social roles between men and women as well as the changes brought about by war and modernization with his camera and notebook. The photographs and field notes show how Bourdieu combined observation, image and theory. For him, seeing was always also thinking.\n\nThe experiences he gained in Algeria changed his view of the social world. Step by step, through observation and the stories of the people he meets, he also develops a new understanding of himself and his origins in the French provinces. From these observations, Bourdieu develops key concepts such as habitus, i.e. the totality of a person's disposition that determines their position in social space, and capital, i.e. the recognized values such as education, money or knowledge that enable advancement and relegation.\n\nThis article was produced by the organizers of the Bourdieu Lectures.\nThe texts were written by: Ullrich Bauer, Uwe Bittlingmayer, Charlotte H\u00fcser, Lilli Kim Schreiber & Franz Schultheis.\nRecorded voice: Franz Schultheis."},{"titel":"Peasantization on both sides of the Mediterranean","inhalte":"[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025_Bourdieu_Medienguide_Entbaeuerlichung-beiderseits-des-Mittelmeers.mp3\"][\/audio]\n\nThe young Pierre Bourdieu grew up in the rural environment of the French B\u00e9arn at the foot of the Pyrenees. During his field research in Kabylia, he repeatedly discovered structures similar to those in his home country. An everyday and economic culture characterized by strict morals and a marriage market changed by social upheavals. These observations motivated him to develop an anthropology that extended beyond the northern Mediterranean. His images, for example of field work, which are often almost indistinguishable between Algeria and B\u00e9arn, document the process of gradual peasantization in both regions and are an expression of loss on both sides of the Mediterranean.\n\nThis article was produced by the organizers of the Bourdieu Lectures.\nThe texts were written by: Ullrich Bauer, Uwe Bittlingmayer, Charlotte H\u00fcser, Lilli Kim Schreiber & Franz Schultheis.\nRecorded voice: Franz Schultheis."},{"titel":"Non-simultaneities of a forced modernity","inhalte":"[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/KB-2025-Medienguide-Bourdieu_Ungleichzeitigkeit-mehr-Vorlauf.mp3\"][\/audio]\n\nPlease take a close look at these photographs. Pierre Bourdieu shows a society full of contrasts and fractures. We see a destroyed traditional culture next to modern city districts: the ruins of the Kabyle way of life, a North African culture thousands of years old, next to the urban worlds built by the colonial rulers with their buildings, stores and lifestyles. This imported modernity seems artificially constructed. Bourdieu makes it clear that a foreign order was introduced by force. The smooth facades do not hide the fact that society is deeply torn by colonial power interests. His images make it clear how colonialism divides cultures and traps people between worlds\n\nThis article was produced by the organizers of the Bourdieu Lectures.\nThe texts were written by: Ullrich Bauer, Uwe Bittlingmayer, Charlotte H\u00fcser, Lilli Kim Schreiber & Franz Schultheis.\nRecorded voice: Franz Schultheis."},{"titel":"Visualizing sociological concepts","inhalte":"[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025_Bourdieu_Medienguide_Soziologische-Konzepte-visualisieren.mp3\"][\/audio]\n\nIn Algeria, Bourdieu mainly photographed and documented the \"Nif\" as a principle of honor for men. To walk through life with an upright posture, or \"Hexis\" as Bourdieu calls it, and never to lose face. Men predominantly perform their work in an upright posture, whether walking, acting or in public life - an expression of honor and visibility. In contrast, the woman fulfills her own duties as a counterpart, which take place in a bent or downward position, such as fetching water or other domestic activities. Many of Bourdieu's pictures illustrate men standing in the center of the picture, whereas women often appear in a crouched position, less visible and in a serving function.\n\nThis article was produced by the organizers of the Bourdieu Lectures.\nThe texts were written by: Ullrich Bauer, Uwe Bittlingmayer, Charlotte H\u00fcser, Lilli Kim Schreiber & Franz Schultheis.\nRecorded voice: Franz Schultheis."},{"titel":"The sexual order of the world","inhalte":"[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025_Bourdieu_Medienguide_Geschlechtliche-Ordnung-der-Welt.mp3\"][\/audio]\n\nIn all his field research, for example on the layout of the house, architecture, the division of labour between the sexes or ethics and behavioural norms, Bourdieu recognizes the gender relationship as a central structural principle of Kabyle culture. This dualism also shapes the cosmological order, which divides the categorization of social life into cold and warm or dry and wet, for example, and assigns female and male virtues, such as the inward-looking domestic life of women and the predominantly public life of men. French colonization, whose representatives were hardly familiar with these practices and rituals, changed Algerian society, especially traditional Kabyle society.\n\nThis article was produced by the organizers of the Bourdieu Lectures.\nThe texts were written by: Ullrich Bauer, Uwe Bittlingmayer, Charlotte H\u00fcser, Lilli Kim Schreiber & Franz Schultheis.\nRecorded voice: Franz Schultheis."},{"titel":"Colonial destruction and uprooting","inhalte":"[audio mp3=\"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025_Bourdieu_Medienguide_Koloniale-Zerstoerung-und-Entwurzelung.mp3\"][\/audio]\n\nInstead of images of war, Bourdieu shows colonialism in a different way in his photographs. For example, he captures abandoned, uninhabitable houses and documents the lives of numerous Algerians, millions of whom were forcibly resettled in camps. The portraits reveal the deep insecurity that this experience left behind. People often seem torn inside, as if they are caught between two worlds. Bourdieu's sociological view makes the traces of uprooting, loss and adaptation visible.\n\nThis article was produced by the organizers of the Bourdieu Lectures.\nThe texts were written by: Ullrich Bauer, Uwe Bittlingmayer, Charlotte H\u00fcser, Lilli Kim Schreiber & Franz Schultheis.\nRecorded voice: Franz Schultheis."}]}],"gallerie":[{"bild":"","laufweite":100},{"bild":"","laufweite":50},{"bild":"","laufweite":50},{"bild":"","laufweite":88},{"bild":"","laufweite":76},{"bild":"","laufweite":97}],"subtitle":"Pierre Bourdieu's sociological view"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ausstellungen\/10305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ausstellungen"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/ausstellungen"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ausstellungen\/10305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11546,"href":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ausstellungen\/10305\/revisions\/11546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kunsthalle-bielefeld.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}