2 research outputs found
Poetics, Materialities, Performances: Greek Photographic Books 2000-2023
At the dawn of the new century, we are witnessing the renaissance and democratisation of the photographic book in Greece. The exhibition Poetics, Materialities, Performances: Greek Photographic Books 2020-2023 documents this evolution and explores its characteristics. Several factors have influenced this development. The advent of new digital technologies enabled cost-efficient production, self-publishing, and international dissemination. The relatively delayed institutionalisation of photography as an art form on par with painting and sculpture within the Greek art scene, played an equally significant role, resulting in a notable increase in museum publications.
Furthermore, as photographic books respond to and reflect diverse pictorial approaches and trends, this curatorial proposition seeks to offer a concise overview of contemporary photographic practices. To this end, the selection is cross-generational and includes books that retrospectively cover a broader context of practice dating back to the 1970s. It encompasses monographs that may focus on a specific topic, publications presenting one or more bodies of work, curated retrospectives of a practitionerâs oeuvre, as well as expanded exhibition publications and self-published books. The books on display present a kaleidoscope of photographic practices, ranging from landscape, street, studio, directorial, and diaristic photography to social documentary, conflict photography, and re-articulations of âthe photographic,â which often arise from the intersection of photography with various other media, such as digital media and painting. They also address a wide array of topics: identities, the Greek crisis, history and collective memory, the interplay between nature and culture, communities, societal issues, politics.
The title of the exhibition indicates three methodological approaches to the materials. Poetics, that is, the storytelling mechanisms, the editing and sequencing of the photographs, the dialectical juxtaposition of text, images, and graphic design, plays a pivotal role in this exploration. Equally significant are the materiality and objecthood of these publications, including their size and format, the paper thickness and texture, all of which are integral parts of their narrative and haptic experience. Lastly, the exhibition highlights how photographic books perform as visual and textual propositions and as cultural experiences, and examines the impact these performances have on audiences and the histories of Greek photography.
The purpose of a book is to be leafed through and read. In line with this principle, the exhibition is designed as an interactive display that invites touch and contemplation. Here, visitors are not passive spectators but active participants whose individuality determines the ways the books are handled and their journey of multiple associations.
Artists
Costis Antoniadis, Alexandros Avramidis, Manolis Baboussis, Ilias Bourgiotis, Dimitra Dede, John Demos, Nikos Economopoulos, Petros Efstathiadis, Pavlos Fysakis, Aikaterini Gegisian, Alexandros Georgiou, Aris Georgiou, Haris Kakarouhas, Stratos Kalafatis, Katerina Kaloudi, Alexandros Katsis, Demetris Koilalous, Panos Kokkinias, Yannis Kontos, Maria Louka, Natassa Markidou, Nikos Markou, Despina Meimaroglou, Persephone Michou, Katerina Moschou, Lia Nalbantidou, Effie Paleologou, Nikos Panayotopoulos, Yiannis Pantelidis, Roula Patra, Avraam Pavlidis, Paris Petridis, Penelope Petsini, Nikos Pilos, Platon Rivellis, Andreas SchÎżinas, Panagiotis Sotiropoulos, Spyros Staveris, Yiannis Theodoropoulos, Marinos Tsagkarakis, Dimitris Tsoumplekas, Eirini Vourloumis, Tassos Vrettos, Yorgos Yatromanolakis, Yiorgis Yerolymbos, Zak / Zackie Oh, Lily Zoumpoul
Closing Remarks
MOMus-Thessaloniki Museum of Photography announces the Greek edition of Fast Forward: Women in Photography, which is organised in partnership with the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) and the University of Sunderland.
The theme for the fifth conference, to be held in Thessaloniki, Greece, will focus on the hidden (hi)stories of womenâs photographies seeking to reflect on current debates on gender justice.
Writing about the recognition of âwomenâ as a political subject and questioning who has the power to define what âwomenâ means, Silvia Federici urged: âWe must identify the world of antagonistic politics and power relations by which our bodies are constituted and rethink the struggles that have taken place in opposition to the ânormâ if we are to devise strategies for changeâ (2020: 10). And indeed, as Françoise Vergès argued, if we are to âre-humanise the worldâ and fight against the ways âfemonationalismâ and âfemoimperialismâ service neoliberalism (2021:17), we need to move beyond mainstream narratives and normative histories, beyond relational notions of centres and peripheries and bring to the fore the hidden stories of anonymous women, those identifying as women and non-binary people told by and through photography.
The conference aims to explore the following questions and beyond:
>> How can photography demystify the socio-culturally constructed notion of âwomenâ and advocate its expansion to include transgender, gender-fluid and non-binary/non-conforming identities?
>> How can we understand womenâs photographies considering the often oppositional diversities of prescriptive identities, socially constructed performances of gender and reproductive labour, racialisation, enslavement, and colonisation in different social contexts and historical periods?
>> In what ways may photography become a weapon for equality, reproductive justice, deracialisation, and freedom for women, those identifying as women and non-binary people against the oppressive power of heteronormative patriarchy, the state, and capitalism?
>> What are the (hi)stories of women in front and behind the camera that are silenced or disregarded from normative art histories and institutions? What are the fundamental barriers in such systems and how may womenâs practices be included in multiple narratives rather than being confined to gendered interpretations?
>> How has the âperformative turnâ affected the curatorial practices of exhibiting womenâs photographies and how have their unknown (hi)stories been represented in museums?
>> What would just and inclusive histories of womenâs photography look like from a transnational, decolonial perspective