Organ Vida, international festival of photography, started yesterday, September 13, with a grand opening of its central exhibition Revelations at Zagreb’s iconic French pavilion. The exhibition that features projects from ten international photographers on the theme of revelations one can have in a photograph is just one of many being held during the ten day festival.
Handling of the theme varies form photographer to photographer, but considering they were picked from over 400 applicants, you know you’re going to see some great photos. Great photography, albeit on a much harder and at times painful subject, can be seen on the exhibition Lessons from ’91 (lekcije iz ’91) that, for the first time since the wars in the nineties that took place in the region , gathers photographers from all the sides in the conflicts, showing different, yet equally tragic perspectives. The exhibition is being held at Zvonimir gallery.
An almost complementary exhibition titled Past is Now held at the Croatian Museum of Architecture deals with the times before the wars. Examining cultural stereotypes, musical myths and pop culture that transitioned into post war societies from Yugoslavia, the exhibition questions the status quo in our collective perspectives of the past.
Thursday is reserved for talks with authors from the main exhibition throughout the day, including Pierre Liebaert who’s project consisted of photographing members of the S&M subculture he recruited through open ads, and Dragana Jurišić, who uses photography to recapture memories of her lost homeland and identity. One of the jury members of the festival, Philip Toledano, will have an opening of his exhibition Maybe. It consists of photographs in which the artist took portraits of his perceived self in the future, from a dashing playboy to an overweight couch potato, questioning the passage time and oneself in it. The exhibition opens 8pm at Kranjčar gallery.
Friday and Saturday is reserved for talks, workshops and discussions about photography throughout the day at Zagreb Dance Center (Zagrebački plesni centar), including Open Show Zagreb where different local photographers will present their works in a TED Talks format, each having 20 minutes for showing and talking about a specific series of photographs they did. Open Show Zagreb will start at 9pm, after which the colsing party will be held at the terrace of Zagreb Dance Center, Ilica street 10.
The exhibitions will be opened until September 24th and all events are free.
You can check out all the exhibitions, talks, parties, film projections, workshops and other content on the festival HERE.
