calendario eventi  :: 

X

16/4/2008

The Photobiennale Greece

Different venues, Thessaloniki

42 exhibitions • 240 artists from 17 countries • 27 curators • 33 venues

The PhotoBiennale/20th International Photography Meeting is organized by the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography - the sole museum funded by the Greek state exclusively dedicated to photography- founded in1998; its basic principle is three-fold: to create a collection, to preserve works of cultural legacy but also to promote contemporary artistic creation.

The PhotoBiennale is firmly situated amongst other European festivals of photography, namely Fotografia in Rome and PhotoEspana in Madrid, all running concurrently in the spring this year during the months of April and May.

Evolving from the annual institution of the international photography meeting organized for 19 consecutive years in Thessaloniki (from which the 9 latter ones by the Museum) the PhotoBiennale this year announces a change in its periodicity – from now on it will take place every two years as with its next scheduled meeting in 2o10 – as well as changes in its structure.

The Meeting includes exhibitions, activities – portfolio reviews, award shows, lectures, colloquia, workshops, masterclasses – as well as events running parallel to the meeting. The exhibition programme of the PhotoBiennale is divided in three sections: the exhibitions included in the central thematic core, as it is usually determined in every Meeting, the exhibitions placed in the parallel program where different themes are presented, and finally the exhibitions of the art galleries which propose the exhibition and the artist or artists of their choice.

The exhibition programme has a central thematic core: for 2008 the thematic core is time (chronos), for 2010 place (topos) is provisionally planned as its thematic core and discourse (logos) for 2012. This thematic core is enveloped by exhibitions presented in museums, art galleries and state exhibition spaces (museums or renovated buildings) throughout the city of Thessaloniki and the surrounding area.
The theme in its wider sense but always tightly connected to photography is the choice of the co-ordinator of the programme and is materialized with the cooperation of curators, collectors, institutions, creators seeking the creation of multiple dialogues.

In every Meeting apart from the main theme a parallel programme is also included made up of choices of curators and creators selecting complete and specific proposals not falling under the central thematic core but nevertheless included as part of the Meeting –taking advantage of the fact that all the central exhibition spaces in the city as well as the most important art galleries of the city put photography centre stage for the duration of the PhotoBiennale.

The art galleries during this period make suggestions pertaining exclusively to photography. The choices of both artists and thematic exhibitions are dependent on the cooperation between the two and are subsequently considered by the museum. In this way another platform whereby artists and the public can meet is formed.

Awards. The section of awards exists so as to supply creators with the motivation to propose their works on a specific theme. In the context of the awards – one made possible in cooperation with Cedefop and a second one with the annual patron of the Museum, Pilsner Urquell – the production of the exhibitions is included. In addition, the Epson-Exceed your Vision award is also given to the best work, as chosen during the portfolio reviews of the PhotoBiennale.

Portfolio reviews. The main idea here is the meeting of photographers. The section of portfolio reviews is expanding more than in the past giving the chance to photographers to exchange views about their work with photography experts, to receive advice or guidelines, and to strengthen the network that could help them present their work to patrons abroad.

Educational Activities: masterclasses, colloquia, workshops, lectures
The events running parallel to the PhotoBiennale give the chance to both the wider and specialised public to enrich their knowledge on photography, on its different uses and approaches as a direct result of each speaker’s particular approach. Every activity appeals to different levels of knowledge and expertise. However they all converge on the framing of the Meeting with activities of an educational nature.

Parallel events: Guitar Plus, concerts, book presentations.
A cultural event apart from the theme around which it revolves can work as a meeting place of different arts and as an excellent opportunity for audiences of diverse interests to meet.

• 13 exhibitions • 15 artists • 8 curators • 13 venues

Museum exhibitions travel as part of the PhotoBiennale
Finally, during the PhotoBiennale and on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography museum exhibitions will be shown in ten Greek cities (Alexandroupoli, Kavala, Drama, Xanthi, Kozani, Komotini, Patras, Volos, Athens) as well as in four cities abroad – Kiev, Munich, Beirut, Sofia.

Some notes about time - The project

The concept of time is closely, if not inextricably, linked with photographic practice.
Taking a picture means connecting a reality with a specified time. However, if we look at things more closely, it transpires that the association of photography with the theme of time is varied, the approaches are not narrowed down to a single one but they are multiple, numbering almost as many as the photographers.
For this reason, it is natural that this PhotoBiennale which is presented as an event with a new starting point, as an event marking its own contemporaneity, has chosen time as the core theme of photography. Even though this event sets out to explore some of the implied associations of photography and time, it does not claim to reduce or explain that which for many creators is a mystery. What is time? It is a mystery for creators – and an inspiration for that reason – but it is also a mystery for the viewer of the creators’ pictures.

The time of the photographers
This PhotoBiennale assembles artists who create a work in which the reference to time is conscious, controlled and one might say programmed, without it however being overtly expressed in the title given to their photographs. Time is perceived as duration or as the exact mark of a moment, of an epoch. The photographer of documentary photography describes, in a signifying manner, a reality in a given time although it can refer to a doubt, a confusion. This is when the image cannot be placed in a specific time, floating between many eras; it might be itself “atemporal”: the artist evades every mode of registering time and this particular denial of his holds special meaning. Time gives rhythm to life, transfiguring beings, objects, landscapes in an irreversible manner. In the artistic process of the photographer, much like the writer’s, the feeling of disquiet and angst over the passage of time is expressed. On the other hand, the time of the clock does not necessarily correspond with the internal time of the creator since the time of photography might easily outfit a piece of subjectivity.

Time from the viewpoint of the viewer of the picture
The table of associations of a photographic work with time would be incomplete if we did not take into account the viewer of the pictures. On the matter of contemporary artistic creation, and obviously more than on any other occasion, the viewer is particularly implicated becoming a point of reference. The viewer gives his entire dimension to certain practices: the photographer who leaves a testimony of reality as legacy knows that his pictures will take on greater value with the passage of time. Time is something like an ally of the relevance of his work.

The viewer of the photograph perceives the extent of the changes taking place in the world, or in some places of the world, observing the permanence of things thanks to the photographs. Terror or pleasure win him over. When considering contemporary artistic creation, we have to note that the time of the writing of the photograph does not always coincide with the time of reading the photographs. Distortions are presented brimming over with interesting qualities. The rhythm of comprehension of a work differs from viewer to viewer, the same way it happens with literature.
The exhibitions of this PhotoBiennale resemble somewhat a theatre of meetings between these different times.

International Press Office
Relations Media - Catherine Philippot
Assisted by Myrtille Beauvert
Tel. +33 (0)1 40 47 63 42
cathphilippot@photographie.com

Different venues
Thessaloniki Grecia

stampa

permanent link