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Photomonth in Krakow 6-31 May
Traditionally, for the whole of May over the whole city, world class photography will reign. Also featured are lectures, projections, slide shows, a portfolio review, exhibitions… Special guest this year will be the Czech Republic and the main theme, Memory Processed: in total almost 50 exhibitions in museums, galleries, clubs and also public space in Kraków. Moreover, there’ll be a crowd of visitors: photography lovers, experts and critics.
Special Forces Files
This year very high standards have been set. Not only with regard to the constantly growing prestige of the review but also the main theme. For Kraków’s Photomonth differs from other similar initiatives, in that it selects the leitmotif for itself. In May 2009, this is Memory Processed, in short: the archive. Several dozen art projects will create a sensation on the theme of the function, role and specificity of archive collections in modern culture. We will see, on the one hand, files of the Polish and Czechoslovakian special services presented as a durable element of history and on the other, never before seen photographs documenting objects taken from Jewish citizens of Prague during the Second World War. Such an image preserved in collective memory at once dooms to oblivion anything not found within its bounds. In the archives, then, lurks a potential, thanks to which history with its political and sociological conditioning can be interpreted anew.
From New York to Września
The exhibition devoted to Arthur Fellig (Weegee) depicting the “dark” side of life in New York in the late 30’s and early 40’s may serve as a point of departure for redefining contemporary ideas of culture, viewed as a method of conveying tradition. Also entering this discourse is the work of Arnold Odermatt. For 50 years, in his capacity as police photographer, he documented road accidents in the Swiss canton of Niewalden. The landscape and inhabitants are seen through a prism of destroyed cars. Through his emphasis on detail, sensitive framing and use of light, he portrays everyday dramas in an idyllic country. The Camelot Gallery & Imago Mundi Foundation Gallery will be presenting about 80 original works by this artist.
Sedimentations, the review of photography by Ireneusz Zjeżdżałka, promises to be interesting. The artist, who died last year, made his hometown – Września – the theme of his work. The exhibition of photographs by Zjeżdżałka in the Pauza Gallery comprises a selection of works from such famous series as: Small Album of My Town, No Atelier, Inventory and Sedimentation but also photographs never before shown, both early examples from the end of the 90’s and also the newest prints from an uncompleted series in colour.
Home of Photography Masters
Photomonth’s special guest this year is the Czech Republic. On this occasion, however, it won’t be a complex presentation of the achievements of the selected country, but rather an exhibition of personalities – artists already well known in the international forum. The Czech Republic is a country with an unusually rich photographic legacy, home to many widely recognised masters of photography, such as: Viktor Kolář, Miroslav Tichę and Jiří David. Their oeuvre encourages us to pose ourselves questions about the place of photography in contemporary art. How is Ostrava seen through the eyes of documentary photographer, Kolář? Where do the pictures end and the idea begin in the controversial works of Tichę? How is the surrounding world seen by the painter, photographer and amateur director, David?
Two temporary exhibitions: Any-instant-whatever and the multimedia Update.CZ will be showing the state of middle, young and youngest generation Czech photography. The project will be complemented by an educational programme: documentary film screenings, a chance to meet the curators and artists, a multimedia presentation of the history of Czech photography and Lumpenproletariat From Hell, a happening organised by curators and artists linked to Divus – the publisher of the international modern art magazine “Umelec”.
My Space
The third part of the festival will be an informal space free of curators, looser in its expression: my[photo]space. The OFF programme embraces in particular the young artists’ work sent to the organisers from all the world. The jury have chosen 15 from among 150 projects selected from over 850 competition entries. Year by year, Kraków’s Photomonth is becoming an increasingly prestigious chance to debut before a wide circle of viewers. (bf)
Venues: Bunkier Sztuki, Starmach Gallery, Space Gallery, Pauza Gallery, Camelot Gallery & Imago Mundi Foundation Gallery, National Museum in Kraków, ZPAF and S-ka Gallery, Wyspiański Pavilion, Dominik Art Projects; CSW Solvay, Erdal Factory, Stained Glass Museum
OFF Programme: Potocka Gallery, BB Gallery, Caryca Club, Piękny Pies Club, Lokator, Mish-Mash, Drukarnia Jazz Club, Anima Art Gallery, Goldex Poldex, Face2Face, Moment, Alchemia, Baraka, Pauza, Kolanko No. 6, Eszeweria
Organisers: Foundation for Visual Arts, Imago Mundi Foundation, City of Kraków
www.photomonth.com
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