Festival of Photography

The Source

The motto of the 9th edition of the festival was inspired primarily by observing the formation of projects and conversations with the artists invited to the residency program, who worked independently on their respective themes.

One always runs the risk of not being able to assemble such separate statements under a common denominator, all the more so with the other exhibitions shown at the festival, regardless of one’s intention to select such individuals whose past bodies of work to-date correspond with one other on various levels.

This year’s residents were Ania Orłowska, Witek Orski and Lithuanian artist Visvaldas Mokrevičius. This time, more so than in previous years, the artists seemed eager to collaborate and engage in one another’s ideas and genuine interaction. Finding a common frame for the projects that emerge very spontaneously, in an atmosphere characteristic of the festival program and Sopot’s ambience, is an ambition of mine, and I strive to connect them with the work of other showcased authors. I have noticed that all of them—each in their individual, albeit more or less literal way—use art to search for an aspect of the beginning, to find the reason behind their perception of the world and their interaction with it, the reason why their sensitivity is specifically directed and bears repetitive, pattern-like features; they wish to understand the genesis of their condition. They try to read behind the symptoms to precisely trace their respective origins and confront them while challenging the audience to expand the scope of their own thinking and imagination. 

Our sense of self-consciousness is that of an individual, significantly differentiating us from others, with an inner radiating point of self that we perceive as unique. We seek to externalize it, an act that lies at the essence of any attempt at expression that is regarded as a projection of our own nature. 

In our desire for introspection, we come across many unconscious templates that we employ our actions, thus evoking emotions. These templates can be the consequence of experiences, unnamed feelings, many small and mixed elements that become a paradigm for the perception and analysis of reality. The question is not what they are, but where they come from, as they define our everyday approach to the world.

The above theme seamlessly ties in with three first-time individual exhibitions, whose authors—Tomasz Wysocki, Szymon Kobusiński and Tomasz Łączny—reflect on and analyze the essence of memory, each with a different reference and in their own characteristic style. This year’s festival will also feature foreign guests. This time, we have invited Lithuanian artists. Aside from the aforementioned artist-in-residence Visvaldas Mokrevičius, the exhibit showcases the work of Gintaras Česonis, Dovile Dagiene, Vilma Samulionyte and Gytis Skudžinskas, featured as part of the exhibition Soul Studies. Contemporary Lithuanian Photography, curated by Adam Mazur. You may also visit a post-air exhibition of students of the Łódź Film School under the artistic supervision of Hubert Humka, as well as a photography book exhibition by Paweł Klein, along with plenty other events.

Enjoy the festival!

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