Background information
"The fashion magazine 'Sibylle' was THE magazine for fashion and culture in the GDR, published first by the 'Modeinstitut Berlin', later by the 'Verlag für die Frau', for which the East German photographer Ute MAHLER was mainly responsible. The magazine, also known as Ost-Vogue because of the quality of its content, appeared every two months with a circulation of 200,000 copies, which was regulated by the planned economy in GDR times. Due to the high demand, it was regularly sold out quickly. Its creators were primarily fashion designers, photographers and journalists with high standards of content and quality. The pictorial language of the magazine was style-defining for the GDR and other countries behind the Iron Curtain. The 'Sibylle' was not purely a women's or fashion magazine. Rather, its editorial claim was to also cover current social and cultural topics.
Content
The visual language of "Sibylle" was trendsetting for the GDR and other
magazines in the Communist world of postwar Europe. Unlike most of it's
western competitors "Sibylle" was not limited to fashion, cooking and
homecare themes - the makers were taking advantage of the rather light
censorship to pick whatever story they were interested in and create a
highly inventive, experimental magazine, reporting on all kinds of
cultural themes and events beside the fashion and photography focus,
thus promoting early on an emancipated picture of the modern women.
The
book showcases the photographers, fashion- and graphic designers,
models, writers, editors as well as the political and sociocultural
background of "Sibylles'" almost 50 year long publishing history as the
definitive publication on an important chapter of German media history.
The volume 'Sibylle: Zeitschrift für Mode und Kultur' (Sibylle: Magazine for Fashion and Culture), which is already out of print in the first edition, presents the most important photographers and their work for 'Sibylle' in detailed photo spreads over the entire period of publication from 1956 to 1995. In addition, the editorial and content orientation of the magazine, the socio-critical elements subtly hidden within it, the design history over four decades (including all cover images), as well as the modern image of women conveyed through the magazine, which differed significantly from the Western understanding of roles of the time, are addressed" (© Hartmann Project, 2016).
Additional information
"Already in 2010 Mathias Bertram dedicated volume 11 of his series 'Images and Times' with 160 illustrations to the magazine Sibylle', co-editor at that time was Dorothea MELIS.
However, the volume has been out of print for a long time and so it was great that the new publication, 'Sibylle: Zeitschrift für Mode und Kultur 1956-1995', once again took an intensive look at the cult magazine, which has been more than just a fashion and women's magazine with high design standards.
The first edition in hardback format was quickly sold out, the paperback second edition was still available in bookstores until 2022, but since then only antiquarian." (© Richard G. SPORLEDER)
With individual photographs and entire picture series by
Arno FISCHER, Sibylle BERGEMANN, Joachim GERN, Esther HAASE, Ute MAHLER, Werner MAHLER, Roger MELIS, Wolfgang WANDELT, Elisabeth MEINKE, Rudolf SCHÄFER, Günter RÖSSLER, Sven MARQUARDT, Hans PRAEFKE, Jim RAKETE, Evelin RICHTER, André RIVAL, Michael WEIDT, Ulrich WÜST.
Photobooks of the photographers associated with the magazine 'Sibyll
- BERGEMANN, Sibylle
FISCHER, Arno
GERN, Joachim
HAASE, Esther
MAHLER, Ute
MAHLER, Werner
MARQUARDT, Sven
MEINKE, Elisbeth
MELIS, Roger
PRAEFKE, Hans
RAKETE, Jim
RICHTER, Evelyn
RIVAL, André
RÖSSLER, Günter
SCHÄFER, Rudolf
WANDELT, Wolfgang
WEIDT, Michael
WÜST, Ulrich
- Ed(s)/Author(s)
- Kunsthalle Rostock, Ute MAHLER
- Format
- Gebundene Ausgabe ohne Schutzumschlag (wie erschienen), 24,5 x 32 x 2,5 cm., 336 S., Farb- & S/W-Abb., deutsch-sprachiger Text- GERMAN TEXT ONLY!