Exhibition in Cape Town at AVA - Mezzanine Gallery - 22.08.2024 - 03.10.2024
Unbinding Histories is a group exhibition featuring the works of seven international women photographers. Coinciding with Woman’s Month in South Africa, their works speak of nebulous territories that make up the human experience from a female lens. The mezzanine floor fundamentally presents the perfect analogy for the nuances inherently rooted in the narratives of this new generation of female photographers.
The seven artists met in July 2022 when they attended the Studio Vortex residency in Arles, France led by Antoine d’Agata of Magnum Photos. The exhibition chronicles the transformative journey their work has gone through in the following two years, exploring stories that exist between the boundaries of continents, countries, cultures, and even timelines. These stories, clustering around gender, identity, heritage, history, and their intersection, ultimately point out a very human desire for fiction, even if the said fiction is found within us.
Alejandra Arévalo’s Blood under the Sundown Light addresses a Black counter history outside the colonial context by researching the Siddi community in India while navigating how one cultivates a sense of belonging while honoring their origins, Arévalo’s documentary aesthetic is interwoven to her visual language, just as intersectionality is an essential keyword to understand her approach.
Francesca Hummler’s Looking for Guerrero navigates a similar path of national identity and a sense of belonging through her former partner’s contemplation of leaving the U.S. and joining the Mexican army. Hummler’s images, with their haunting quality and witty undertones, can be read as a visual autopsy of not only an expired dream but also generational aspirations of a better life.
Verónica Losantos is another artist who works on collective memory with her Archaia, where she recounts the visual reminders of intergenerational trauma and the phenomena of disappearing. Her photographs act as an imaginative inversion of the flooding of Mansilla de la Sierra, Spain, where her grandparents lived. In an engagement with the concept of post-memory, Losantos constitutes her own archeological record of the submerged village.
Building upon the exploration of personal histories within the social milieu, the artists at the other end of the exhibition delve into more private narratives.
Ronja Falkenbach’s Raver is an intimate series of portraits following a decision of sobriety where she eagerly and patiently explores the subculture through her subjects. Raver takes place in a moment of transition, not only from night to day, but also when a nonchalant façade reveals fragility underneath.
A similar liminality is felt across Maike Bergold’s High Hopes, a bold statement about not being afraid to take space between impulse and reaction. The poetic sensibility in the series subtly suggests that Bergold’s self-portraits take the form of her surroundings as she confronts the fear of uncertainty.
In tandem, I Know You’re Capable of Beautiful Intimacies by Cagla Demirbas is a poignant examination of closeness and distance found in human relationships. The work attributes a sense of elusiveness to the tension that manifests, ultimately conceptualizing intimacy through non-human elements.
Last but not least, Phuong Hoang’s enigmatic Polyptych of Memory is a journey on the terrain of dissected memories. Hoang’s eye is experimental yet tender, revealing that the human experience is shaped by the act of remembering as well as the recollection itself.
Artists: Alejandra Arévalo, Cagla Demirbas, Francesca Hummler, Maike Bergold, Phuong Hoang, Ronja Falkenbach, Verónica Losantos
Curated by Cagla Demirbas
Curatorial statement by Cagla Demirbas
Generously supported by: Acción Cultural Española, Erkin Tekel, Imran Garda, Illustrations: Miguel Luna
AVA35 Church Street,Cape Town, 8001,South Africa
BOUNDARIES OF SELFHOOD | 29 July - 03 August 2024 in Arles
“Boundaries of Selfhood” presents ten international artists whose work penetrates the complex layers of human connection, self-discovery, and cultural identity. Each navigates personal relationships, societal roles, and existential dilemmas. The exhibition offers reflections on our search for connection and understanding in a divided world.
The exhibition can be seen at a space for photography between 29 July and 03 August , 15 Rue des Arènes, 13200 Arles, France
Featured Artist:
Alejandra Arévalo
Çağla Demirbaş
Camila Berrio
Francesca Hummler
Maike Bergold
Phuong Hoang
Ronja Falkenbach
Sidharth Sircar &
Eileen Wingaard Sjøqvist
Weeteng Poh
Poster design by Mark Radion Hartung
In 2022, a group of artists from different parts of the world came together for Studio Vortex residency program in Arles, led by Antoine d'Agata. Using photography, archival materials, and experimental video to explore the complexity of identity and address social issues, a mix of sounds, colors, and perspectives emerges that invite us to consider, empathize, and relate to the complex tapestry of our shared human experience.
The Unbinding Histories exhibition, which met the audience for the first time at Ka, brings together 8 female artists from different countries who explore socio-cultural and political issues such as migration, post-colonialism, loneliness, insecurity, and freedom. Using a variety of media, the exhibition reflects the challenges of living across cultures and borders and invites viewers to consider their own experiences of isolation and vulnerability. While celebrating multicultural identities, it highlights the challenges of freedom and encourages people to develop empathy and understanding across borders.
Alejandra Arévalo
Çağla Demirbaş
Despoina "Penny" Demertzi
Francesca Hummler
Maike Bergold
Phuong Hoang
Ronja Falkenbach
Verónica Losanto
Unbinding Histories exhibition is supported by Institut français Ankara and Goethe-Institut Ankara.
The exhibition can be seen at Ka between 7 June and 20 July, Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00-19:00.
Program leader Antoine d’Agata
Co-Founder & Director Oğuz Karakütük
Co-Founder, Design Director & Editor Nazlı Deniz Oğuz
Assistant Director Emirhan Demirel
Connect 2024
CICA Museum
May 22 – June 16, 2024
2024.05.22 – 06.16
“Connect” is an interactive exhibition incorporating QR codes along with artworks in various media including photography, 2D digital art, video art, interactive art, drawings, paintings, sculptures, and installation art. The show is organized to promote communication between featured artists and viewers and enrich our understanding of contemporary art and diversity of cultures.
“Connect”는 QR코드와 사진, 드로잉, 회화, 뉴 미디어 아트, 영상, 조각 및 설치 작품을 함께 전시하는 인터렉티브 국제전입니다. 본 전시는 QR 코드를 작품과 함께 전시하여 작가와 작품에 대한 관객의 이해를 도울 수 있습니다. “Connect”를 통해 참여 작가와 관객의 소통을 증진시키고 현대 미술과 문화의 다양성에 대한 이해를 확장시키고자 기획되었습니다.
Featured Artists 참여 작가: Kat Barbieri, Max Hart Barnwell, Ana Bathe, Jeff Rufus Byrd, Cho Shin Wook (조신욱), Ronja Falkenbach, gxu (김지수), Ping Ho, Huang Ziyue, 이호경, Xiaodong Ma, Joanna Mortreux, knackeredpark (박정현), Tomas Penc, Lu Qiao, Tina Šulc Resnik, Yasmina Safi, Katya Savel, Anže Sekelj, Michelle Sutanto, Tiange Wang & Xin Feng, Gaelle S. Warner, Bigai Wu, Soyoung Yang (양소영), BO ZHANG
Zum vierten Mal wird 2024 der von Ulla Bartenbach und Prof. Dr. Kurt Bartenbach gestiftete August-Sander-Preis vergeben, mehr als 120 Photographinnen und Photographen haben sich an der Ausschreibung beteiligt. Über Deutschland hinaus sind Einsendungen aus Belgien, Finnland, Großbritannien, Italien, Österreich, Südafrika und den USA eingegangen.
Nach engagierter Diskussion hat die Jury eine Shortlist bestehend aus 10 Positionen ausgewählt, aus denen der Preisträger/die Preisträgerin hervorgehen wird:
Meret Eberl (Berlin), „NBSW“, 2022–2023
Karl Henrik Edlund (Helsinki, Finnland), „Fylgja“, 2017–2024
Ronja Falkenbach (Berlin), „Raver“, 2023
Mathilde Tijen Hansen (Berlin), „Sonnenallee”, seit 2022
Alexander Komenda (Espoo, Finnland), „A Bowlful of Kumis”, 2017–2022
Johanna Langenhoff (Hamburg), „Ich oder so“, 2023–2024
Melina Lehmacher (Düsseldorf), „Neue Stadt“; 2022–2024
Yola Moschitz (Graz), „soll ich so mich zeigen, wie ich wirklich bin“, 2022–2024
Tobias Nielsen (Niedereschach), „The Trouts of Triberg”, seit 2020
Philip Zietmann (Düsseldorf), „pardés“, 2023
„Die für die Shortlist ausgewählten Serien weisen eine hohe Sensibilität gegenüber den bearbeiteten Themen auf, die ein breites Spektrum abdecken. Dies umfasst etwa die Dokumentation des Herkunftsortes wie des aktuellen Lebensumfelds und eine Reflexion der eigenen Identitätsfindung. Auch die Auseinandersetzung mit sozialen Räumen, gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhängen und Gruppierungen kommt zum Tragen. Ein experimenteller wie klassischer Umgang mit dem Medium der Photographie und seiner Materialität wie auch mit dem Genre des Porträts zeichnet die Positionen der Shortlist ebenso aus“, so die Jury, bestehend aus Dr. Anja Bartenbach, Stifterfamilie, Gabriele Conrath-Scholl, Leiterin, Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Kirsten Degel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Bernhard Fuchs, Künstler, Düsseldorf, Prof. Dr. Martin Hochleitner, Salzburg Museum.
Ausstellung »Lausitz im Wandel« auf der Schlosswiese vom 13.08 – 31.10.2023
Im September 2022 haben fünf gestandene Fotografinnen und Fotografen fünf junge Kolleginnen und Kollegen ausgewählt und eingeladen, sich von Lieberose ausgehend, mit der Kamera den Herausforderungen des Wandels in der Lausitz zu stellen.
Diese besondere Region, diese Landschaft, die Verwerfungen nach der Deindustrialisierung, ihre Geschichte und Geschichten, die Menschen hier und ihre Traditionen, die Ängste, Hoffnungen und Perspektiven wollen immer wieder neu entdeckt, ins Bild gesetzt und damit einer größeren Öffentlichkeit zugänglich gemacht werden.
Auf insgesamt 20 Planen, jeweils 320 x 170 cm groß, sind von den 10 Fotografinnen und Fotografen bisher unveröffentlichte 100 Bilder zu sehen. Die mit großformatigen Schwarz-Weiß- und Farbfotografien bedruckten Planen sind parkseitig auf Bauzäunen installiert und zeigen Landschaftsdarstellungen der Region Lieberose, Porträts aus Eisenhüttenstadt, sorbisches/wendisches Leben und originelle Stadtansichten bis hin zu liebenswürdigen und skurrilen Details aus Haus und Hof.
Eröffnung am 13. August 2023, um 12 Uhr, im Schlosspark Lieberose
im Rahmen des Sommerfestes der Naturwelt Lieberoser Heide
Die Ausstellung wurde kuratiert von Herbert Schirmer und Uwe Warnke.
Gestaltung, Druck und Installation vor Ort : Holger Wieloch