The Helsinki Photography Festival, the oldest international photography event in Finland, is organized for tenth time this autumn. First organised at the beginning of the 1980s, the Helsinki Photography Festival 2005 to be continued…/ jatkuu... celebrates Finnish and British contemporary photography and is jointly organised by the Hippolyte Gallery and the British Council. Co-operation has its basis in a shared interest in enriching photographic culture and transgressing national, linguistic and institutional borders. Helsinki Photography Festival 2005 offers an extraordinary view on contemporary photography in both countries. Instead of a distanced overview the festival creates a carefully tuned dialogue between individual artistic positions accompanied by a lively discussion about photographic culture.
In addition to the exhibition, there will be a catalogue, video screenings, a seminar, a panel discussion on photography magazines titled "A dying breed?", a reading room with photography magazines, artists’ talks, an education programme and an artist’s residency with the Helsinki International Artists’ Programme (HIAP). The festival aims to offer different forums for lively interaction between artists and the public.
The title to be continued…/ jatkuu… brings to mind the end of an episode of a TV series, with the promise of something to follow and an expectation of a new twist in the story – a combination of something familiar and safe; something new and unexpected. The title also reflects the state of contemporary photography. Both in the UK and Finland, contemporary photography is characterised by ‘the eternal return’ to the fundamental questions of photography. What becomes apparent, at the same time, is the impossibility of repetition. When pictured, the world always unfolds anew.
Artists include – Danny Treacy, Anne Hardy, Gareth McConnell, Idris Khan, Mark Lewis, Caroline McCarthy, Marion Coutts, Wood & Harrison, Gary Stephens, Simon Faithfull, Ailbhe Ní Bhriain, Susan MacWilliam, Hiraki Sawa, Nooshin Farhid. (UK). Pertti Kekarainen, Sanna Kannisto, Jari Silomaki, Elina Saloranta, Heli Hiltunen, Anu Suhonen, Sonja Suominen, Jyri Pitkänen. (Finland)
The festival is curated by Mika Elo (MA, photographer, theorist based in both Helsinki/Bremen) and Brett Rogers (Deputy Director and Head of Exhibitions, British Council, London). The project coordinators are Marjatta Tikkanen (Hippolyte Gallery) and Kirsi Korhonen (British Council, Finland). Marjatta Tikkanen is also the festival producer.
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