Fotobokfestival Oslo 2020

FESTIVAL PERIOD: September 10th - 20th
VENUE: Arbeidersamfunnets plass, Oslo
OPENING HOURS: Mon-Fri 12:00-17:00*, Sat-Sun 12:00-18:00
Friday September 11th, 12-21 (in collaboration with Oslo Art Weekend)

The Norwegian Association of Fine Arts Photographers (FFF - Forbundet Frie Fotografer) is delighted to finally announce this year's Fotobokfestival Oslo 2020!

Fotobokfestival Oslo is a week-long event which aims to explore the photo book as an artistic medium and phenomenon. The festival was established by FFF in 2009 and continues to feature widely recognized art photographers and young, new participants in photography, the photo book genre, and publishing activity nationally and internationally. It takes place in Oslo every September and is free and open to all. Also connected to the festival is a satellite program where relevant participants participate to the festival with their own events.

Due to guidelines by The Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Oslo municipality, there will be no official opening event this year, but we welcome you to join us September 10th 18:00-19:00 when the festival is finally finished.

MAIN EXHIBITION 2020: THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY IN 50 ROUNDS

The Climate Emergency in 50 Rounds, curated by artist Ethan Rafal, is the main exhibition at Fotobokfestival Oslo 2020.

The exhibition contains works made by 50 photo book artists and artist collectives whose work urgently responds to the climate crisis. The artists represent 36 different countries from six continents, and their projects have been created in regions that span the entire planet. Their photo books offer a striking comparative analysis of a global phenomenon that has reached a state of emergency.

The festival is designed as a space for “direct pedagogy” — an expanded library built for public engagement, dedicated to the movement of knowledge from the institution to the street. The physical exhibition is presented in three subject areas, each of which occupies its own container — Nature: Process and Representation; Documents and Evidence; and Zines and Direct Action. Also included in the exhibition are the artists related video projects— the works range from meditations on humanity’s relationship with nature in the 21st century, to the documenting of experimental protests against multinational corporations.

We have gathered these projects in Oslo as a call to action. Knowledge. Cooperation. Internationalism. The Climate Emergency has now gone past the make-or-break moment. The systems that precariously sustained us are crumbling before our eyes. Ultimately, the path away from this crisis is not to be found through these 50 artists, but through the actions of the viewer, you— individuals joining forces to act collectively. We must come together to confront state and corporate extraction enterprises that have precipitated this crisis. The endgame is a survivable planet that offers hope for an open future.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:

Peter Funch (DEN) Michael Light (USA) Paul Cupido (NLD) Sergej Vutuc (HRV/DEU) Sayler-Morris (USA) Malgorzata Stankiewicz (POL) Meghann Riepenhoff (USA) Sarah Piegay Espenon (FRA) Corinne Vionnet (FRA) Suzette Bousema (NLD) Jon Gorospe (ESP/NOR) Alan McFetfridge (GBR) Marcela Magno (ARG) Woong Soak Teng (SGP) Erik Berglin (SWE) Yan Wang Preston (CHN) Ignacio Acosta (CHL) Matteo De Mayda (ITA) Madeline Cass (USA) Minny Lee (KOR) Kari Ørvik (USA) Oliver Ressler (AUT) Maria Primo (ESP) Tomas Wüthrich (CHE) Ronny Sen (IND) Sammy Baloji (COG) Mario Zamora (ESP) Anastasia Samoylova (RUS) Teo Ormond Skeaping & Lena Dobrowolska (GBR/POL) Phillipe Graton (BEL) Gilvan Barreto (BRA) Paula Pedrosa (BRA) Oksana Yushko & Arthur Bondar (RUS/UKR) Ian Teh (MYS) Gihan Tubbeh (PER) Aleksey Kondratyev (KAZ) Yoshinori Mitztani (JPN) Veejay Villlafranca (PHL) Theresa Ganz (USA) Ian Van Coller (ZAF) Russel Albert Daniels (USA) Drew Brown (USA) George Osodi (NGA) Karim Mottaghi (IRN) Zied Ben Romdhane (TUN) Mandy Barker (GBR) Rita Marhaug (NOR) Sandrine Elberg (FRA) Halldora Magnusdottir (ISL) Susanne Kriemann (NLD) Josué Rivas (MEX)

ABOUT THE CURATOR

Ethan Rafal (b. 1983, New Jersey) is an artist and photographer based in San Francisco, California and Oslo, Norway. His work deals with the individual and collective experience of violence, and the ways in which subsequent representations of violence inform personal and national mythologies. He teaches, mentors, helps run an art space, collaborates with social practice and activist groups, and curates projects in Europe and North America.

Rafal’s work functions at the intersection of photography, expanded art practice, social science research, and activism. His principal output is through photography, books, installation, and a unique presentation method that is equal parts performance art and oral tradition story telling. Major presentations of a 12-year project, Shock and Awe, were conducted in 100 venues across 14 countries. This book, and its associated performance, was presented at museums, universities, but also in many non-traditional venues, including public spaces, often created for the work itself.

SATELLITES 2020:

Also connected to the festival is a satellite program where relevant participants participate to the festival with their own events. For 2020, the festival is delighted to be collaborating with: Fotogalleriet Fotografiens Hus Tronsmo Books & Comics CYAN Studio For more information about the festival program, satellite program, seminars and events please visit: www.fotobokfestivaloslo.no