La feria más importante de fotografía es Paris Photo, que abre sus puertas a partir del 18 de Noviembre en Carrousel du Louvre, esta edición la dedica a la fotografía de Europa Central.
Texto en Inglés:
After Japan two years ago, followed by Iran and the Arab countries, the spotlight will be on Central Europe this year – the final guest of our trilogy dedicated to the East. The guests of honour this year are Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia Slovenia and Poland.
The contribution of Central Europe to the development of the history of 20th Century photography cannot be over-estimated. At different periods and to varying degrees of intensity, Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, Warsaw and Ljubljana have been hotbeds of avant-garde movements. These produced new visions of photography and laid the cornerstone of modernity.
Anchored in what is a solid historical tradition, photography is today’s medium of choice of Central Europe’s contemporary artists as they translate the profound and formidable social, economic, cultural and political mutations provoked by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the end of the Socialist utopia and the rise of liberalism.
Appreciation for work from this part of the world has come late owing to historical obstacles, in particular the iron curtain, the division of Europe, the Cold War and censorship. Also at play was a prevailing lack of interest or ignorance on the part of West towards artistic production in the former Eastern Bloc. Those days are over and both historic and contemporary photography from the region are now the subject of rising interest not only on the part of international institutions but also the art market in general. Witness to this are the numerous recent and exhibitions and publications on the subject, namely « Foto : Modernity in Central Europe 1918-1945 » at the National Gallery of Art of Washington in 2007, «Eastern Europe : Behind and Beyond the Wall » at the Noorderlicht International Photofestival in 2008, « Les Promesses du Passé, une histoire discontinue de l’art dans l’ex-Europe de l’Est » at Pompidou Centre in 2010, and of course the important « André Kertész » retrospective at Jeu de Paume that opened in September 2010.
The time was therefore right to pay tribute to Central Europe at what is the world’s leading fair for still photography. With over 90 artists from Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia and Poland represented by one third of the galleries participating in the fair, Paris Photo offers a dense and rich panorama of historic, contemporary and emerging photography from the region.
T: Extracto de “Looking to the East” por Guillaume Piens, Paris Photo Fair Manager.
F1: Holly Andres, The Magic Exlixir. 2008
F2: Marina Abramovic, Portrait with firewood. 2009
www.parisphoto.fr
