Discovering Lisel Haas Curator's Talk

Lisel Haas (1898 - 1989) was a German-Jewish photographer whose professional career spanned over 6 decades. She worked in close collaboration with her partner, Grete Bermbach (1899 - 1979).

Having run a successful photography business together in their home town of Mönchengladbach, Lisel and Grete fled Nazi persecution and arrived in Birmingham shortly before the war. Despite initial hostility and difficulties, they were eventually able to set up their photography studio again and rebuild their strong career.

The Library of Birmingham is home to the Lisel Haas archive, a collection of nearly 260 boxes of material that have remained uncatalogued and largely untouched, until now.

This exhibition draws out highlights from the archive in order to tell Lisel and Grete’s story. Contemporary artists have also been invited to respond to the archive and to Lisel and Grete’s story; their responses are on display throughout the exhibition.

This talk will be led by curator of the exhibition, Jen Wilbur. Jen is a creative producer and curator working in arts and heritage in Birmingham and the Black Country. They are Project Manager at Bertz Associates and have been researching Lisel Haas for 6 years. They presented a paper on Haas at the Four Corners 'Another Eye' Conference in September 2020. In 2021, they included Haas in Bertz Associates' 'Women between the Lines' guided walk. Since 2024, Jen has led Bertz Associates' projects working with the Haas archive at the Library of Birmingham.

This guided talk will take you round the exhibition, drawing out highlights from the show and giving an insight into the curatorial decisions made behind the scenes.

Thursday 27 August, 2pm

Tuesday 1 September, 5:30pm

Saturday 10 October, 11:30am

Tuesday 20 October, 5:30pm

Saturday 14 November, 11:30am

Wednesday 25 November, 2pm

Saturday 12 December, 11:30am

The event will last roughly 1 hour