Under the theme ‘Bite the hand that feeds you’, the PhotoIreland Festival 2021 will take place from 1 to 31 July with exhibitions in Dublin, Ireland. As it was in 2020, the festival will also organize a programme with online activities, including talks and a critical online cooking channel.
There is power in how we feed ourselves, with food being the cornerstone of cultures, ideologies, and principles. Eating or not eating can be an act of protest, feeding or not feeding — an act of control; food brings people together and pushes them apart. Through the presentation of current work and commissions, this year PhotoIreland Festival brings to local and international audiences selected artists exploring this contentious, yet every day, topic.
Taking its cue from current conflicts and affairs, the festival generates a discussion around complex social and global issues, with topics ranging from hospitality to colonisation, from hunger to overconsumption, trauma to technology, ethics to ideologies, to sustainability, and even surveillance capitalism. The programme does not claim an all-encompassing representation of food related issues, but is intended as a way to invoke specific questions, ideas, and research; it brings forth questions and considerations towards a conscious and informed consumption. We invite the audience to take a seat at our table and join the conversation on the politics and poetics of food.
The festival brings together traditional and contemporary lens-based works, alongside film and performance, serving a cornucopia of engaging and relevant material — with many works never before shown in Ireland — through exhibitions, talks, and a critical online cooking channel!
Every year FOMU selects ten promising phototographers, all living or working in Belgium. In addition to a variety of networking opportunities, FOMU will accompany them on a development journey to create the portfolio magazine .tiff, culminating in a group exhibition. Now you can visit this show until 12 September, 2021, at FOMU Antwerp.
The exhibition .tiff 2021 presents the work of: Aurélie Bayad, Sébastien Cuvelier, Michiel De Cleene, Youqine Lefèvre, Lucas Leffler, Kamel Moussa, Joud Toamah, Josephina van de Water, Erien Withouck and Ugo Woatzi.
Like ‘Belgian photography’, .tiff has many angles. It gives a flavour of the diversity and energy in Belgium’s photography landscape. Using .tiff, FOMU offers emerging talent a platform to reach a wider audience and network.
Special edition of Fotofestiwal calls for a one of a kind Portfolio Review. After the successful virtual debut last year, Fotofestiwal Lodz is coming back to the live formula in 2021. If you would like to participate and introduce your work to our reviewers, submit until the 26th of May.
What is PHOTO-MATCH?
PHOTO MATCH’s model breathes new life into the traditional formula of portfolio reviews through placing a special emphasis on the series of open networking events, public presentations and an equal status granted to the reviewers as well as all artists. The event is powered by Futures.
DAY ONE: PRESENTATIONS + MATCHING 11th of June 11:00AM – 3:30PM CET
It’s a day dedicated for everyone attending to introduce themselves, their work and practice through short presentations. Based on these introductions you will then choose 2 curators you would like to meet with, additionally you will also be chosen by 2 other curators who’d like to see your work. Which means each participant will have 4 meetings the next day.
DAY TWO: MEETINGS 12th of June 11:00AM – 4:00PM CET
The real deal! All participants attend private meetings held accordingly with the timetable generated based on your choices. Every photographer and reviewer attends four meetings at the most, two of which they’ve arranged themselves. PHOTO MATCH will conclude with an open session, an informal gathering of all participants who can finally enjoy some conversation with someone previously unavailable, with no strings attached.
REVIEWERS
The list of reviewers posted below includes magazine editors, book publishers, photography festivals’ directors, museum curators, gallery owners, independent art consultants:
Maciej Bujko, BWA Wrocław
Virgilio Ferreira, Ci.CLO Bienal
Angel Luis Goznalez, PhotoIreland
Grzegorz Kosmala, BLOW UP PRESS
Andrei Liankevich, Minsk Photomonth
Pablo Berástegui Lozano, Salut au Monde!
Olga Łacna, Fort Fotografii
Jeanne Mercier, Independent Curator
Manuela Matos Monteiro + João José Coito Lafuente, Mira Forum Porto
Giuseppe Oliverio, Photographic Museum of Humanity
Marie Papazoglou, Independent Curator
Jevgeni Roppel, Editor at Ostlook
Łukasz Rusznica + Łukasz Adamski, TIFF Festival
Istvan Virágvölgyi, Capa Center
Tomek Gutkowski, Kraków Photomonth
Emmanuelle Halkin + Clair Chalou, Circulacion
Nina Kassianou, Independent Curator
Marina Paulenka, Futures
Chiara Ruberti, Photolux Festival
Katarzyna Sagatowska, Galeria Jednostka
Nuno Salgado, Parallel Platform
Sergio Valenzuela, Independent Curator
The Fotofestiwal Lodz is celebrating its jubilee this year from 10 to 27 June in Lodz, Poland. In this edition, the program includes over 40 exhibitions throughout the city and presentations of 150 artists and their projects. Futures is one of the main partners of the event and supports the Photo-Match portfolio review program (https://www.futures-photography.com/events/photo-match-portfolio-review-2021).
The program of the 20th edition of Fotofestiwal is prepared jointly by Łódź curators, activists, creators, universities and students. Together, we will create a story about the city whose fascinating history combines the creative pursuit of avant-garde artists with the popular working-class culture.
The program will include exhibitions referring to the history of the city, meetings of local galleries and artists, and, most importantly, presentations of the most interesting achievements of artists associated with Łódź, whose accomplishments have become a permanent element of the canon of Polish art. A particularly large block of exhibitions will also be devoted to the contemporary world photography. We will show several international projects and platforms aimed at promoting and presenting the rising stars of contemporary photography. When it comes to numbers, Fotofestiwal 2021 includes over 40 exhibitions around Łódź, two festival centres, and presentations of the works by over 150 visual artists.
The main part of the Fotofestiwal program is being developed under the supervision of Prof. Józef Robakowski and is dedicated to the art scene in Łódź. Exhibitions will be shown in Art_Inkubator at 3 Tymienieckiego Street, as well as in galleries and informal spaces throughout the city. In the second festival centre, OFF Piotrkowska, among others, exhibitions prepared jointly by three universities in Łódź will be shown: the Lodz Film School, the Academy of Fine Arts and the University of Lodz. The exhibition of photographs from the collection of Muzeum Sztuki (Museum of Art) in Łódź, organized jointly by the Festival and the Museum, will be another special event. This unique collection of photographs, gathered over the years by Urszula Czartoryska, will be presented at ms2 at 19 Ogrodowa Street. As every year, there will also be international projects. The Festival program will include, among others, a collective exhibition of the works created by the Open Call finalists, presentations of European photo platforms: Parallel and Futures, and exhibitions by photographers who have been invited to artistic residencies.
The Łódź art scene is based primarily on grassroots, often anarchist and anti-system initiatives. It is the result of collective energy, and it is thanks to such energy that the jubilee edition of Fotofestiwal is being created.
MAIN EXHIBITIONS:
1) Collective exhibitions curated by Prof. Józef Robakowski at Fabryka Sztuki
(over 40 artists, including Małgorzata Potocka, Aleksandra Ska, Karolina Breguła, Karolina Wojtas, Grzegorz Przyborek, Ryszard Waśko, Andrzej Różycki, Piotr Zbierski)
2) The first ever exhibition of the photography collection of the Muzeum Sztuki/Museum of Art in Łódź
(approx. 200 works, including Andy Warhol, Natalia LL, Karol Hiller, Zofia Rydet, Zbigniew Libera Jerzy Lewczyński, Roman Opałka, Stefan and Franciszka Themerson)
3) Exhibition of photographs by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz “Witkacy”
(“Multiple portrait”, Signum Gallery, reference to the exhibition from the Museum of Art in 1979)
4) Stories from the city of Łódź – historical and contemporary exhibitions about Łódź
(documentary exhibitions by Maciej Rawluk, Ula Tarasiewicz, Artur Urbański, as well as coloured photos from the 1920s and 1930s by Wiktor Jekimenka from the Veolia archive)
5) Academic space; exhibitions prepared by three universities in Łódź
(University of Łódź, Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź, Film School in Łódź)
6) Exhibitions from the STREFA MIASTO project
(ca. 30 exhibitions in museums, galleries and temporary spaces, including by Bogdan Konopka, Agnieszka Kurant, Sebastian Collet, Iacopo Pasqui, Bartłomiej Talaga)
7) Exhibitions from the international Open Call
Including by Federico Estol (Uruguay), Colin Delfosse (Belgium) Sima Choubdarzadeh (Iran) Rafael Heygster & Helena Manhartsberger (Germany), Robin Hinsch (Germany), Irmina Walczak (Polska)
8) Exhibitions from the European photography platform PARALLEL
(exhibitions presented by 30 young artists from around the world summarizing the annual cycle of one of the largest European projects supporting creators; the Parallel Platform brings together 19 institutions from all over Europe, such as galleries, festivals, and photo magazines)
The Copenhagen Photo Festival recently joined Futures as one of our members. For their festival’s fourth edition, they created a new programme focusing on Nordic artists, the Futures Nordic Talents.
The festival is now showcasing the five artists they selected for Futures this year in an exhibition at Refshaleøen in Copenhagen, from June 3 to 13. The show is an integral part of the festival’s programme and presents the work of Io Sivertsen (Norway), Nanna Navntoft (Denmark), Essi Maaria Orpana (Finland), Lars Dyrendom (Swedem) and Hrafn Jónsson (Krummi) (Iceland).
EXHIBITION PARK
Refshaleøen 173, 1432 Copenhagen
FESTIVAL OPENING HOURS
Opening Day June 3: 17:00-22:00
June 4-6: 10:00-20:00
June 7-9: 12:00-20:00
June 10-13: 10:00-20:00
TICKETS
Festival wristband: 150dkk for adults, 100 dkk for students
and free for kids below 18 years old.
Once again, five of our Futures artists have been nominated for the ING Talent Award. The winner will be announced on Wednesday 2 June. It is our great pleasure to invite you to the 2021 Online ING Talent Award Ceremony. This is the eighth time that the ING Talent Award will be presented. This year the award ceremony takes place in Kunsthal Rotterdam and will be streamed online.
The Online Ceremony starts at 5 pm CET and will take about 20 minutes. The winners will be announced by Steven van Rijswijk, CEO of ING Group.
ING Art Management and Kunsthal Rotterdam have selected five exceptional finalists from a longlist of talented photographers from all over Europe: Etienne Courtois (1969, Belgium), Camilla Ferrari (1992, Italy), Alina Frieske (1994, Germany), Esther Hovers (1991, the Netherlands) and Ire Lenes (1981, Spain).
Under the guidance of the renowned American photographer Alec Soth, each finalist has created a work of art for the ING Collection on this year’s theme of Resilience: a personal story. Their work will be shown at Kunsthal Rotterdam from 27 May to 19 September 2021.
To attend the ceremony, please register online here.
Meanwhile, vote on your favorite artist here.
Once again, some of our Futures artists have been nominated for the ING Talent Award. They have joined an intensive three-month coaching programme and have been creating new works for the ING Collection. Under the guidance of the famous American photographer Alec Soth, they have been working with the theme ‘Resilience, a personal story’, a subject relevant to these challenging times in which an extra dose of resilience is required from us all. The result of this work can be seen in an exhibition at Kunsthal Rotterdam from 27 May until 19 September.
This is the eighth edition of the ING Talent Award. This year’s finalists are Alina Frieske (1994, Germany), Camilla Ferrari (1992, Italy), Esther Hovers (1991, the Netherlands), Etienne Courtois (1969, Belgium), and Ire Lenes (1981, Spain). The winner will be announce on Wednesday 2 June in an Award Ceremony at Kunsthal Rotterdam, but can be also followed online (RSVP here).
WINNERS 2013 - 2019
The works of the winners of the Jury Award of the past years will also be presented in the exhibition at Kunsthal: 2013 - Ola Lanko (1985, Ukraine), 2014 - Anne Geene (1983, the Netherlands), 2015 - Sophie Jung (1982, Luxembourg), 2016 - Thomas Albdorf (1983, Austria), 2017 - Andrea Grützner (1984, Germany), 2018 - Jaakko Kahilaniemi (1989, Finland) en 2019 - Karolina Wojtas (1996, Poland).
ING Talent Award: Resilience, A Personal Story
May 27, 2021 – Sept. 19, 2021
Kunsthal Rotterdam:
Museumpark - Westzeedijk 341
3015 AA Rotterdam
Stay tuned! We will be launching our new publication with an online event on March 18th.
Do our current definitions of photography still hold up, or are we overdue for a questioning of the medium?
Tune in on Thursday, March 18th for the publication launch of RESET: Questioning the Image, the Market, and the Role of Representation by Futures Photography. The event will be premiered at 6PM (GMT) on our social media and BJP's website. The evening will be spent in conversation with Goldsmith's professor of new media Joanna Zylinska, artists and editor of RESET Salvatore Vitale, and Futures artist Ana Zibelnik.
Taking Zylinska's contributing essay 'Does Photography Have a Future (Does Anything Else)?' as our starting point, the discussion will posit this question while touching upon our machine mediated reality of nonhuman photography, the evolving relationship between photography and extinction and what redefining the medium reveals about modern society and the artist's role in it.
This event is graciously hosted by The British Journal of Photography and introduced by Zoe Harrison.
About the publication:
RESET: Questioning the Image, the Market, and the Role of Representation pushes past the dimensions of a yearly round-up or catalogue – to engage in debate on our splintered representations of reality and their revealing architectures of influence.
The exponential rise of nonhuman photography; our ambivalent relationship with memes, emojis and digital communication at large; and how the forces of representation continue to shape our racial condition are just some of the topics explored by a host of cross-disciplinary contributors. Including Mariama Attah, Joanna Zylinska, Geert Lovink, Sandrine Colard, Olav Velthuis, Lewis Bush, Rafal Milach, Ola Lanko, Salvatore Vitale and more.
The structure of RESET – in a play on the world turned upside-down – is developed in two parts that must be flipped to read. One side delves into how photography plays into our collective situation and the implications that can be traced in its social future; housing essays, visual interventions and discussions that took place during Futures Digital Festival 2020. While the reverse proudly features the work of 57 image-based artists and collectives, annually nominated by Futures’ network of institutions across Europe for their exceptional practice and urgent stories they tell.
About the speakers:
Joanna Zylinska is Professor of New Media and Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London. The author of numerous books – including AI Art: Machine Visions and Warped Dreams (Open Humanities Press, 2020) and Nonhuman Photography (MIT Press, 2017), she combines her philosophical writings with image-based art practice, experimental publishing projects and curatorial work. She is currently working on a new book provisionally titled Does Photography Have a Future?
Salvatore Vitale (b. 1986, Palermo, Italy) is a Swiss-based visual artist, editor and educator. In his layered artistic practice and research, Vitale’s work focuses on the functioning of modern societies and power structures, visual politics and technological development, whilst making use of different media and multiple levels of visual narratives. His work has been awarded internationally, and has been exhibited widely in museums and photo festivals. Vitale is a lecturer at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU). He is also the co-founder and editor-in-chief of YET Magazine and the current guest curator of Futures Photography.
Ana Zibelnik (b. 1995, Ljubljana) is a photographer currently based in the Netherlands. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana in 2018 and recently completed her MA degree in film and photographic theory at Leiden University. Through long term projects she explores the topics of death, immortality as well as the relationship between photography and extinction. She is part of PARALLEL - European Photo Based Platform, Haute Photographie Talents, British Journal of Photography Ones To Watch 2020 and was selected as the GUP New Talent of the year.
Are you in Belgium? Don't miss out the exhibition 'Primordial Earth: Inhabiting the Landscape' by the artist Léonard Pongo, who joined our platform in 2019. You can visit the show until March 21st at BOZAR in Brussels.
By exploring the diversity of landscapes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Léonard Pongo offers an allegorical imagery of the country. Imbued with a sense of magical beauty and mystical power, the landscape seen through his eyes becomes a setting to rebuild the self, and the earth becomes the source of an awareness from which tradition, philosophy and conceptions of the universe emerge. For Léonard Pongo, exploring the environment, as well as sensory experience, are pathways to an emerging vision of the world – it is by becoming one with the landscape that it becomes possible to engage with life.
Drawing inspiration from Congolese traditions and Kasaian cultures, Primordial Earth: Inhabiting the Landscape presents the landscape as a character with its own will and power, like an open book that tells the story of humanity and the planet, with Congo at its centre.
More information: https://www.bozar.be/en/activities/171089-leonard-pongo-primordial-earth
The Studio Visit programme is an online activity organized by Futures and curated by Marina Paulenka (Co-Founder of Organ Vida and former Artistic Director of Unseen). On Fridays, she presents a virtual online tour of our talents' studios, talking about their inspirations, creative process, and ongoing projects. This activity is mainly exclusive to VIPs and guests.
Unlike previous tours, the studio visit on October 23rd and on the 30th will be open to the public from 4PM CET via Zoom and Facebook live-stream:
On October 23, Paulenka visits the artists Shia Conlon, Giovanna Petrocchi, Masha Svyatogor, Jon Gorospe.
On October 30, you're invited to meet Charlotte Schmitz, Karolina Wojtas and Ulla Deventer.
Register online here: https://forms.gle/jPZRdVdMGH5DdWbx9