What does it mean to share in the 21st century? There are multiple interpretations, from file and location-sharing to the exchange of ideas, goods or wealth. The 15th edition of Getxophoto International Image Festival explores definitions of sharing in a globalised, digitised world. Taking place in the Basque Country, close to Bilbao, it presents unconventional installations across photography, video, performance and digital art – peeling back the layers of our interconnected planet. Here are 5 artists to look out for.
“For years, the photographic representation of Bolivia, like that of the global south, has been limited to reductionist, folklorising Western narratives. The visual canons that were established through the foreign photographic gaze, deployed during the rise of the industrial revolution, capitalism and colonialism, have long marked the way in which Bolivians imagine their own country, their identity and their territory. The Warawar wawa project, meaning “Son of the Stars” in the Aymara language, proposes an alternative Bolivian identity that, without denying the western footprint, is conscious of its roots. Recontextualising the novel The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in contemporary Andean culture, the photographer River Claure sets the story in the alien landscapes of the Uyuni salt flats.”
“Taking as a starting point the genetic and emotional bond that unites her and her twin sister, Colombian photographer Juno takes us on a journey through the molecular and symbolic relationship that unites everyone. This series of photographs uses the history of genetics – developed by scientists like Rosalind Franklin – to investigate the representation of DNA, the molecule where the instructions for human development are written. Las dos hebras (The two strands) brings together molecular diagnostic images of the author and her sister, microscopic photographs taken in fertility labs, archive material of the history of genetics and other related photographs that allow us to explore what makes us similar.”
“Images from the Feedlots series by artist Mishka Henner document the impact the intensive meat industry has on the environment. Made from the merging of hundreds of satellite imagery captures, these seemingly abstract photographs show the infrastructures of several American cattle farms. This intensive process of meat production predominant in the US, in turn requires large areas of land where food is grown with the help of fertilisers. Henner’s work identifies, transforms and recontextualises publicly available images, exploring the effect that human systems have on other living beings and the planet.”
“The work of Chinese-Indonesian artist Leonard Suryajaya is a response to the legal and ideological limits that society imposes on queer migrant identities. Taking his own experience as a starting point, he creates complex theatrical scenes performed in collaboration with his family and friends. Suryajaya’s colourful, bizarre and chaotically organised portraits reflect his life trajectory shot through with diverse cultural systems, religious beliefs, and border politics. The rigid, exhausting process to obtain permanent residence in the US, governed by a hetero-patriarchal conception of love and family, was the starting point.”
Penelope Umbrico, TVs from Craigslist
“TVs from Craigslist is an ongoing project consisting of photographs of televisions for sale on the Internet. Penelope Umbrico downloads these images from the Craigslist classified ads website. She cuts out the screens and enlarges them to the scale of each television. After being reframed and enlarged, the photographs reveal traces of the personality and home life of the people who created them. Despite having made and published the images for a utilitarian purpose, the spaces and the bodies of the people who are selling the televisions are reflected in the screens, inadvertently showing their messy rooms.”
Getxophoto International Image Festival runs until 26 September. Find out more here.
- Leonard Suryajaya, False Idol
- River Claure, Warawar wawa
- Juno, Las dos hebras
- Juno, Las dos hebras
- Mishka Henner, Feedlots
- Leonard Suryajaya, False Idol
- Leonard Suryajaya, False Idol
- Penelope Umbrico, TVs from Craigslist
