FUTURES Annual Event 2023 at Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center.
Building a European community around contemporary photography. One show, three talks, four workshops, twenty-three curators, and one hundred artists hosted in Budapest.
This year, the FUTURES annual event was hosted by the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center in Budapest for the first time. From October 13 to 15, one hundred artists, twenty-three curators, and heads of major international contemporary photography institutions were guests at the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center for the Annual Event of FUTURES.
The FUTURES Annual Event offered a calendar of events that took place over the three days, with appointments exclusively for the artists selected in 2023, alternating with other public events. Among these, ENERGY: Redistributing Power and Taming Consumption, curated by Emese Mucsi (Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center), Ángel Luis González, and Julia Gelezova (PhotoIreland), and Daria Tuminas (FOTODOK); which opened to the public on Friday, October 13, at the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center.
The group exhibition comprises more than eighty works created by eight young photographers chosen from the FUTURES Photography network.
The displayed projects by Antonio Guerra (ES), David Biro (HU), Hien Hoang (VE/DE), Marta Pinto Machado (CV/PT), Tanja Engelberts (NL), Umberto Diecinove (IT), Yana Kononova (UA), and Yana Wernicke (DE) showcase the diversity of approaches to the subject matter. Some projects delve into the destructive forces of energy in warfare or extractivist society (Engelberts, Kononova), while others explore existing strategies as potential solutions (Biro, Diecinove, Guerra). Some exemplify desirable companionships (Wernicke) and reflect on healing (Hoang). Finally, there's a perspective on how colonial and capitalist structures have shaped contemporary cities and how the energy of presence in these spaces can serve as a form of resistance (Machado). From an aesthetic and linguistic point of view, these works stand out as the most innovative and relevant experiences within the current European photographic scene.
In addition to the artists and curators from the organizations belonging to the platform, the annual event also featured the participation of international guests such as artists like Zack Denfeld (US/NL) founder of artist-led think tank The Center For Genomic Gastronomy; documentary photographer, National Geographic and Nikon Ambassador, Esther Horvath (HU/US); curator, artist and photography researcher, founder and director of Odesa Photo Days, Kateryna Radchenko (UA); and Krzysztof Candrowicz (PL), curator of CICLO Biennial in Porto, Portugal. These professionals served as mentors for the FUTURES artist-only educational program and played a leading role in public events held at the Capa Center.
To conclude the program of meetings on photography and the contemporary image within the Art Photo Budapest section of Art Market Budapest, Capa Center presents the works of the FUTURES talents of 2023, as selected by the institution: Kiss Richárd, Mari Ornella, Simon Zsuzsanna, Szigligeti Balázs, and Turòs Balázs. Simultaneously, a video teaser for the international group exhibition 'ENERGY: Redistributing Power and Taming Consumption' is also on display.
Finally, this three-day event focused on the importance of networking in the art field by featuring a special lecture by Júlia Perczel (HU) researcher at the Department of Network and Data Science at Central European University, and in this spirit experimental animated mingling events happened with the contribution of Seven Trials Theatre Troupe (HU) exploring and offering new possible ways of professional network building over the weekend. Classic and reliable forms of social blending evoking communal energy cannot be left out of the program: warm-up exercises, communal lunch, parties, DJ sets, and music will happen, all under the banner of contemporary photography, visual research, and professional networking.
FUTURES members are Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center, the Bienal Fotografia do Porto, CAMERA - Centro Italiano per la Fotografia, Centre Photographique Rouen Normandie, Copenhagen Photo Festival, Der Greif, FOMU Fotomuseum, FOTODOK, Fotofestiwal Lodz, Fotogalleriet, Fotograf Magazine, ISPP, Organ Vida, PhotoEspaña, Photo Romania Festival, PhotoIreland, Triennale der Photographie Hamburg and Void.
FUTURES is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. Eurokleis is a research and spin-off partner of the platform and Magnum Photos that is the educational partner of FUTURES.
We would also like to thank the three new Swiss members that are part of FUTURES: Photoforum Pasquart, Photo Elysée, and Centre de la photographie Genève, thanks to Pro Helvetia, which founded the Swiss program.
Menno Liauw (director of FUTURES), Salvatore Vitale (artistic director of FUTURES), Emese Mucsi (curator of Capa Center), István VIRÁGVÖLGYI (artistic director of Capa Center).
Photo credit: Capa Center
