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Welcoming: Dr Boris Weirauch, Member of the State Parliament
Reading and discussion: Luigi Toscano and Evein Obulor

Luigi Toscano presents his new series of works: large-format portraits of people with migrant backgrounds. We come face to face with them, look into their faces – what stories do they tell? What stories do we want to hear?
At the opening of the exhibition, Luigi Toscano will read from his autobiographical book Kanakenkind. He tells of violence, rescue and memory: as the son of Sicilian immigrants, he finds a way out of violence through photography. At the opening of the exhibition, Luigi Toscano reads from his autobiographical book ‘Kanakenkind’ (Kanak Child). He tells of violence, rescue and memory: as the son of Sicilian immigrants, he finds a way out of violence, neglect, drugs and the streets through photography. Toscano, born in Mainz in 1972, lives in Mannheim, is self-taught and has been internationally present for years with his project ‘Gegen das Vergessen’ (Against Forgetting). In the book, he links his story with the search for the identity of Anna Iwanowa from Kiev, who was abducted by the Germans as a toddler in 1943
and deported to Auschwitz. Toscano embarks on a journey through time and space to explore Anna Ivanova's identity.

The book ‘Luigi Toscano. Kanakenkind’ will be published in March 2026 by Herder Verlag.