This year's edition of Fotofestiwal in Lodz begins tomorrow, August 6. Due to the pandemic, it will have a "hybrid " form - it will be partly held online. Fotofestiwal will be dedicated to the subject of collecting - author's, private, sometimes peculiar collections and why they are made at all.
This year's edition of Fotofestiwal in Lodz begins tomorrow, August 6. Due to the pandemic, it will have a "hybrid " form - it will be partly held online. Fotofestiwal will be dedicated to the subject of collecting - author's, private, sometimes peculiar collections and why they are made at all.
What is the reason behind the need to collect, own and catalog photographs? Can collecting turn into an obsession? What determines the value of the photographs we want to keep with us?
Fotofestiwal 2020
During this year's Fotofestiwal we will get to know the profiles of extraordinary collectors. All of them have built unique collections over the years - authoritative, based on unconventional criteria and often coming from surprising sources. Thanks to their determination, passion and obsession, they have created original stories about modern society and landmarks in the history of the 20th and 21st centuries. In addition to amateur photography, bought at flea markets or found in dumpsters, there will be works presented in prestigious world museums and at many international festivals. One common denominator of all the exhibitions is that, except in one case, the collectors themselves will take on the role of chief narrators and curators.
Jean-Marie Donat will premiere the latest project from his vast collection of amateur photography, and the repetition of themes that appear there will certainly make us think about the image of ourselves in the 20th century
© organizers' press materials
peculiar collecting
In the W.M. Hunt collection, with works by artists such as Diane Arbus, Robert Mapplethorpe and Robert Frank, it was not the names of the authors that determined why the photos were included in the exhibition, but... the shapes of the letters into which the photographed objects or people are arranged. Jean-Marie Donat will premiere the latest project from his vast collection of amateur photography, and the recurrence of themes that appear there (dressed-up dogs, ladies and gentlemen posing with cars or a white bear) will certainly make us think about the image of ourselves in the 20th century.
A politically entangled view of Western civilization became the key to the selection of photographs from Antoine de Galbert's collection of more than 3,000 works of art. The "Burning House" exhibition is created in cooperation with the Museum of Art in Lodz, ms1. It will see works by politically and socially engaged artists, including: Christian Boltanski, Jonathan Horowitz, David Goldblatt or Yoho Tsuda. Everyday life and seemingly unphotogenic moments will be brought closer to us by one of the most interesting digital collections of vernacular photography, Hungary's Fotepan.hu, whose genesis can be traced to... a trash garbage can.
