OST: Architecture Conflict Occupation is an ongoing project exploring abandoned civilian and military sites in the format German Democratic Republic. Through photography, painting, drawing and the collection of found objects, Ian Cale investigates how the built environment reflects conflicting social values, political ideologies and the traces of conflict and occupation. His work does not seek to provide fixed answers but instead invites viewers to actively engage with complex histories of 20th century Germany and Europe.

Cale asks us to consider the lost voices and untold stories of a country ravaged by the impact of war, opposition and displacement, through the Second World War and the Soviet occupation of East Germany during the Cold War.

Unbekannt (literally translated from the German: ‘Unknown’) marks a change from earlier work in that it combines his use of personal effects and items with a more heavy presence of portraiture. The work has become more personal and uncanny for it, exploring the lives and missing stories of those unknown to history and challenging an idea of conflict that relies on a simple binary Good vs. Evil narrative to explain how the horrors of war and cruelty come to be, and who is caught up in them.

The dangerous turns in thought and in history may be to hand with the ever-present spectre of conflict, most notable currently with the invasion of Ukraine, giving this collection an added dimension of relevance. (Jo Rose 2023)

Ian Cale was born in North Yorkshire in 1970. He studied painting at The Norwich School of Art and now lives in Manchester, where he lectures in Fine Art at The Manchester College.

When: Saturday 18th October until Sunday 8th February 2026, weekdays 09:00 – 17:00, weekends 10:00 – 16:00

Where: Crossley Gallery, D Mill

For more information: Contact ACDC on info@artscharitydeanclough.org or 01422 383500