Since 2011, photographer Victoria Tomaschko has been addressing the German penal system as a thematic focal point in her work. For her exhibition in the EMOP Berlin 2023, Tomaschko opens her archive to present excerpts from this closed system.

Based on 9.5 m² and Mothers – both of which consist of portraits and visitors’ logs – the photographer began another portrait and text work in 2018 dedicated to employees in Berlin’s penal system, particularly the JVA für Frauen, the Women’s Penitentiary in Berlin. Over a period of one year, she accompanied staff from different areas of the prison organization and made portraits showing inmates and prison staff at eye level. Vollzug presents a series of these portraits; they are being shown simultaneously in the Women’s Penitentiary in Berlin.