In 1890, Jacob Riis, today considered one of the pioneers of social documentary photography, published the book “How the Other Half Lives”, in which he captures life in the poorest neighbourhoods of the growing American capital, including evidence of child labour. In her video collage, depicting a portrait of Chinatown in New York City, author Shelly Silver bluntly answers Riis’s research question: “We don’t know because we don’t care!”. Are we actually still asking loudly to whom belongs the public space as well? Have we lost our utopian visions? Do the utopian visions of yesteryear only dwell in company slogans which artist Bernadette Keating twists into a bitter-sweet parody? The Collorado-Mansfeld palace, situated in Prague’s touristic heart, has been through periods of different ownership and use, and recalls, as well as the work of Eiko Grimberg, the motivation of political and economic decisions. The Pool by Grimberg digs into the history of a particular place which – frequently rebuilt – illustrates the dominant ideology, where “the other” is changed or disappears. The modernist vision of urban development in Zbyněk’s Baladrán video is confronted with today’s development in the short movie of Martin Netočný. Gabriele Stötzer’s film shows 13 women and men dancing in outdoor locations of their choice. Each one developed, without any music, their own movement to the point of ecstasy. Under the condition of state socialism the film expresses “a freedom inherent in all of us, should we choose to grasp it” (Stötzer). All the approaches then underline the very fragile connections between the image of the public space and the conditions of society, which, when individualized, loses the notion of otherness as a building stone for positive change.
About Festival
The Fotograf Festival explores intersections in photography and contemporary art – just like its partner projects – Fotograf Gallery and Fotograf Magazine. Festival is held in Autumn months and it presents current topic through solo as well as group exhibitions prepared in cooperation with invited domestic or foreign curators in various Prague galleries and institutions. A series of discussions, atist talks, site-specific events, public space exhibitions, projections and guided/commented tours accompany that exhibition program. Fotograf Festival is the only thematic- and curator-conceived photography festival in the Czech Republic. Its aim is to promote the photographic medium and its broader integration into contemporary art and into the conscience of the general public.
The discussions, at which invited experts debate each other on the current festival theme in the context of visual art, are meant not only for the expert public, but for the lay public as well. Fotograf Festival looks to build a tradition and a new platform for a photography festival that places Prague among other important centers for photography and the visual arts in Europe. It strives to share contemporary photographic art and the creation of a thematically-focused space where the general public and experts from around the world can meet.
Archiv
Fotograf Festival is organised by
Fotograf 07 z.s.
Jungmannova 7
Praha 1, 110 00
info@fotografnet.cz
+420 605 553 432
fotografestival.cz
fotografgallery.cz
fotografmagazine.cz
Team Team Fotograf Festival #13
Světlana Malinová
Creative director
svetlana.malinova@fotografnet.cz
Monika Čejková
Author of the concept & curator of the exhibition in Trade Fair Palace
Tina Poliačková
Curator of the exhibition in the Fotograf Gallery
Pavel Matěj
Manager of the Festival
pavel.matej@fotografnet.cz
Jan Hladonik
Marketing
jan.hladonik@fotografnet.cz
Graphic Design
Anymade Studio
Karina Golisová
Coordination
karina.golisova@fotografnet.cz
Tereza Vacková
Socials & Media Relations
tereza.vackova@fotografnet.cz
Viktorie Vítů
Accompanying Program
viktorie.vitu@fotografnet.cz
Markéta Kinterová
editor-in-chief Fotograf Magazine
marketa.kinterova@fotografnet.cz
Barbora Čápová
Production, advertisement Fotograf Magazine
barbora.capova@fotografnet.cz
Marie Rozmánková
Finance and Administration
marie.rozmankova@fotografnet.cz
Aleš Loziak
Web
ales.loziak@fotografnet.cz
Fotograf Festival is organized by Fotograf 07 z.s. under the auspices of the City of Prague, the Municipal District of Prague 1, Prague 7 and with the financial support of the Prague City Hall in the amount of CZK 300.000 the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the State Culture Fund of the Czech Republic. With support of the Government of Flanders.