The 23rd International Festival of Photography in Łódź

The first photo exhibition for children in Poland and premieres of projects by Weronika Gęsicka, Przemek Dzienis, Magda Hueckel and Grzegorz Wełnicki – these are some of the highlights of Fotofestiwal that once again takes place in Łódź from 13 to 23 June 2024.

The 23rd edition of Fotofestiwal will be held all over the city of Łódź and, like in previous years, it will invite you to look at the landscapes of both Polish and international contemporary photography. The majority of projects exhibited in the festival centre will be presented in Poland for the first and only time during Fotofestiwal. Apart from the 29 photo projects, the festival program includes many events, concerts, film screenings, and industry meetings.

I – Four premieres by Polish artists, which are the focus of this year’s program.

Weronika Gęsicka will present her newest creations. In her project ENCYCLOPAEDIA, she will tell you about some particularly interesting examples of non-existing people and phenomena gaining worldwide recognition due to errors and fake entries in various encyclopaedias and lexicons. Her previous project Traces, which brought her worldwide acclaim, comprised seamless collages of old American photos from the 1950’s and 1960’s. This time, she’s decided to develop her project utilising stock photos and AI tools. Her work will be exhibited in the Re:Medium Gallery in collaboration with the JEDNOSTKA Gallery.

Przemek Dzienis is known for his conceptual photography that one might know from the 2010 Paris Photo poster, selected due to its unique visual form and combination with installation and sculpture. After long lasting absence on an artistic scene, he prepared a project specially for Fotofestiwal. It will be his first work that is centred on spatial objects. Dobry Żal/Good Regret is a subversive reflection on passing memories. The records of memories are transformed into images, and then into objects with fascinating structures, body-like shapes, and distorted sounds. The exhibition will be presented in Kamienica Hilarego Majewskiego, the newest art institution in Lodz.

Magda Hueckel is a visual artist, director, and theatre photographer. She will contribute to the discussion concerning the portrayal of female body in Polish culture by preparing a series of collages using images from photo archives and newspapers.

Grzegorz Wełnicki (Rats Agency, Archive of Public Protests) will conclude the 13 year long chapter of his artistic work focused on the topic of death with an individual exhibition at the Łódź Film School’s gallery.

II – Fotofestiwal for children

Photography is Everywhere, an exhibition dedicated to children, will premiere in Łódź. We will ask ourselves some interesting questions: What would the world look like if photography had never been invented? What would we never know without photos? The exhibition’s curators (Marta Szymańska, Katarzyna Sagatowska and Monika Szewczyk-Wittek) will show us works of accomplished artists, such as Carolle Benitah, Karolina Jonderko, Kacper Kowalski, Gabriele Galimberti, and many others, in a brand new context.

III – Stars of international photography talk about liberation

“We always make sure not only to show photos and spotlight the unique personalities behind them, but also to wonder what photography is all about,” says Marta Szymańska, member of the Fotofestiwal Program Board. “This year, we are taking a closer look at the stories of many authors for whom photography has become a way to cope with adversity and difficult experiences. We also welcome less intimate works, where the creators use imagery to talk about transformation and breaking free from stiff norms such as patriarchy or religion.” Liberation is the main motif that connects the six individual exhibitions of international artists presented in the main festival centre.

Martin Kollar is one of the most noteworthy contemporary Slovakian photographers. Kollar used his own photo archive to talk about the experience of someone dear and loved dying. The touching and bold project After is the result of that process. Another artist whose works will be exhibited is Gloria Oyarzabal, a Grand Prix Fotofestiwal 2020 laureate. The Spanish photographer is interested in the topic of colonial legacy of the West. This year, Oyarzabal will focus on the oppressive role museums play in international culture. Diego Moreno brings with him the perspective, the sense of humour and the hard-hitting style which have delighted the international scene in recent years (e.g., the prestigious Foam Talent 2022). Moreno will point our attention to the Christian undertones and burdens of Mexican culture. Swiss artist Lukas Hoffman returns to the roots of photography in his beautiful, abstract images. His creations invite the audience to take a moment for steady contemplation and liberation from the daily hustle and bustle. Peter Puklus, one of the most prominent Hungarian and Central European photographers, deconstructs and questions the dynamics of the pre-established female and male roles, while developing an original visual vocabulary around parental life and issues related to the construction of the family nucleus, in a playful yet critical posture. Together with the well acclaimed and awarded The Hero Mother – How to build a house – Fotofestiwal presents Puklus’ latest project devoted mainly to the masculine role in the society and the family – The Hero Father.

IV – Albania, Bosnia, and the countries that no longer exist – the most interesting photographic topics of the season in the Open Call

The Open Call is another part of the review of the international photography scene and includes six projects chosen out of 1200 entries. In this section, artists will talk about such matters as the complicated and difficult history of the Albanian regime (Camilla de Maffei’s The Great Father) or the story of postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina (Adrien Selbert’s The Real Edges). An Atlas of Countries That Don’t Exist is a project by the Italian artistic duo Lavinia Parlamenti and Manfredi Pantanell, that looks at five regions whose independence and identity have not been internationally recognised.

Apart from that, Fotofestiwal is going to feature several exhibitions organised by other institutions in Lodz, including the very first individual exhibition in Poland prepared by Iosif Királya, the master of Romanian photography. You are also more than welcome to attend one of the accompanying shows, gigs, film screenings and workshops. The full program is available on www.fotofestiwal.com/2024/en as well as on Fotofestiwal’s social media.

V – Ukraine and Belarus presence, as dear friends of the festival.

Both Ukraine and Belarus presence will be held this year in a photobook exhibition, which frames both festivals in a different format comparatively to the last two years, when Fotofestiwal hosted them.

Additionally Odesa, Photo days, in the name of Kateryna Radchencko, will introduce us to a lecture on the role of vernacular photography during the war in Ukraine. And Month of Photography in Minsk will take part in the programme with a presentation and discussion about the living situation in Belarus and to what extend do the artistic practices find a space to exist and manifest in the present context.

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Organiser: Fundacja Edukacji Wizualnej (Foundation for Visual Education)
Co-organisers: Łódzkie Centrum Wydarzeń (Łódź Centre for Events), Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Fabryka Sztuki (Art Factory) in Łódź
Main Festival Partners: Futures Photography – from the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union funds, Pro Helvetia, University of Łódź, Lodz Film School, Academy of Fine Arts Łódź.
Festival Sponsor: VisionExpress
Festival Centre: Art_Inkubator in Fabryka Sztuki

The project is co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Fund for the Promotion of Culture.