Fotofestiwal was established in 2001. It was one of the first photographic events in Poland: a small, spontaneous initiative of sociology students. Today, it's an international event with more than 20,000 visitors each year.
The festival takes place in Lodz, a city with an extraordinary industrial history that has inspired the organizers from the beginning. Exhibitions are shown in post-industrial spaces: the festival center Art_Inkubator in a former cotton warehouse or the impressive OFF Piotrkowska complex in the heart of the city. We are discovering the city for ourselves and for our viewers - every year new locations are opened especially for festival events. Throughout the city you can see more than 30 exhibitions, organized in cooperation with local galleries.
We have hosted exhibitions, workshops and meetings of artists such as Alex Webb, Roger Ballen, Joan Fontcuberta, Vivianne Sassen, Christina de Middel and Martin Kollar. We have developed a proprietary Photo-Match portfolio review, which is even more effective in networking while bridging the gap between experts and artists. This formula has already been adopted at other festivals around the world, such as PhotoLux in Italy and the Triennale of Photography in Hamburg. With equal commitment to exhibitions and industry events, we organize parties and meetings with the public. We treat the festival as a meeting place and photography as a starting point for important discussions.
For us, the festival is a space for experimentation and new experiences not only in the field of art exhibition, but also in the organization of cultural events, which is why we have been implementing it for several years now as a collective composed of curators, promotional and financial specialists and cultural managers. We operate without a boss, make decisions together and share knowledge.
PROGRAM HOPE.
We were inspired by the words of American writer and activist Rebecca Solnit that "hope demands action; action is not possible without hope." We invited curators_and artists_to work with us to create seven group and solo exhibitions. Most of them were created especially for the 22nd edition of Fotofestiwal. They present various forms of resistance, support and cooperation in Eastern and Western Europe, South America and the Middle East. They will show inspiring figures, courageous artists, strong communities and their actions taken against the common fatalistic narratives about our reality
In this section:
→ Eléonore Lubna and Louis Matton, "Ipáamamu"-Tales of the Wawai, curated by Sergio Valenzuela Escobedo
→ Rituals Inhabitant Collective, "Green Gold," curated by Sergio Valenzuela Escobedo
→ Nadège Mazars, "Mama Coca," curated by Sergio Valenzuela Escobedo
→ group exhibition "In Our Hands," curated by Bettina Freimann, Sithara Pathirana
artists_ci: Ursula Biemann, Rami Hara, AVAH Collective.
→ group exhibition: "On the Edge", artists_circumstances: Cian Burke, Mark Duffy, Pauline Hisbacq, Julia Klewaniec, Alice Pallot, Daniel Szalai and Ugo Woatzi; curators: Marta Szymanska, Maja Dyrehauge Gregersen, Giangavino Pazzola.
HIGHLIGHTS.
Several exhibitions unrelated to the main theme: including → "AREA: ART ON THE PARK. Warhol, Basquiat and S-ka." Volker Hinz's large-format, dynamic and bold frames will take a look at the history of the nightclub whose glamour lit up the streets of New York's Lower Manhattan in the 1980s. The photos will feature stars of the world art scene including Warhol, Basquiat, Madonna and Grace Jones.
→ A strong point of the program will also be the premiere of new photographs by Zbigniew Libera, created especially for this edition of Fotofestiwal. Curator: Daniel Muzyczuk.
→ Another major solo exhibition entitled. "Silence" will present the works of Grzegorz Przyborek, a Lodz-based artist highly regarded in Poland and abroad.
MINSK AND ODESSA IN BOAT
The Minsk Month of Photography and Odesa Photo Days exhibitions will once again be held in Lodz, due to the political situation in Belarus and the war in Ukraine.
→ Month of Photography in Minsk: "Somewhere in Between," curated by Sofia Sadovskaya
→ Odesa Photo Days: "Transitional State," curated by Kateryna Radchenko
THE MOST INTERESTING PHENOMENA OF CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY.
One of the most beloved and anticipated parts of the program by our audience: a cross-section of the most interesting phenomena of contemporary photography, the Open Program.
Here to see:
→ Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo, "El pez muere por la boca".
→ Chloé Milos Azzopardi, "Ecosystems."
→ Ngadi Smart, "Wata Na Life".
→ Gabriele Cecconi, "TiàWùK"
→ Io Sivertsen, "Growing Concerns. Rethinking the Climate Crisis"
→ Agnieszka Sejud, "Mimesis"
A special slide show of so-called Talent Futures will feature projects on topics close to contemporary Europe: Ihar Hancharuk investigating the phenomenon of military propaganda present for years in Belarus, projects by Lisa Bukreyeva and Marcin Kruk on the war in Ukraine, and a series of photographs by Kinga Wrona on the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma.
AND MUCH MORE.
During the ten days of the festival, there will also be presentations of photography books (including those awarded in the Photographic Publication of the Year competition or the prestigious Kassel Dummy Awards), exhibitions organized by partner galleries, here including a group exhibition dedicated to → Bogdan Konopka at the Gallery of the Lodz Photographic Society or Chris Niedenthal's retrospective exhibition at the Museum of the City of Lodz, and an exhibition by students of the Film School (curators Krzysztof Pijarski and Witek Orski). As always, the program will include film screenings, discussions, concerts, and the festival will become an excuse to visit Lodz at its best.
See you between June 15 and 25 in Lodz!
Subsidized by funds from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Cultural Promotion Fund.
The festival is being held as part of the celebration of the 600th anniversary of Lodz.
Full program of the festival: https://fotofestiwal.com/2023/oglaszamy-program-festiwalu/
