323 Artists, 73 Exhibitions, 50 Venues, 45 Events, 150 Publishers and 700 books.
Ángel Luis González, Festival Founder & Director
The present programme serves as a testimony to the hard work put into the events by everyone involved, and the festival team. We share our passion with you, and desire your participation, reassured you will enjoy the programme.
To introduce the third edition of Ireland’s International Festival of Photography and Image Culture, I would firstly like to accentuate the very interesting time that Photography is undergoing in Ireland, with the flourishing of awards, residencies, educational programmes, publications and exhibitions, that add to the currency and relevance of the medium – serving to enrich continued critical discourse in the field. Although there are some challenges too, one of them being the current revision of the future of Photography education in Dublin, I feel excited to be a participant in this encouraging process.
During last years festival, we had an open discussion about the theme for 2012, ‘Migration: Diaspora and Cultural Identity’ and since then, we have been engaged in a fluid conversation with the participants. It is a particularly pertinent theme in the Irish context, at a time when the immigration flux has been superseded with the need to emigrate – unfortunately a historically persistent trend. The main exhibitions in the programme, curated by Moritz Neumüller, propose a very diverse engagement with this year’s festival theme.
The featured exhibitions highlight a selection of key exhibitions during the month of July, with the Gallery of Photography Ireland presenting the Irish premiere of the work of Evelyn Hofer (1922 – 2009), a keynote exhibition of this year’s featured programme. The OPEN Programme, includes 50 exhibitions around Dublin city and beyond, bringing a wide range of perspectives into the offering. We are especially excited to be hosting our second Book and Magazine Fair, including the festival’s book collection, and the portfolio reviews, that will generate stimulating conversations and will feed into the legacy of the festival.
Irish cultural life is rich, varied, and extraordinarily valuable. It makes us who we are, as much as we shape it in our everyday life. It is part of our identity, and it is our identity. The Arts landscape is shifting, accommodating new challenges, and it will always remain as one of the core values of this creative nation. The current is a decade of celebrations in Ireland and we must not forget to celebrate ourselves.
I would like to personally thank the National Campaign for the Arts for their constant work “ensuring that the arts are on local and national government agendas and are recognised as a vital part of contemporary Irish life”. I would encourage you to visit NCFA.ie to find out how you can participate.
Finally, I am extremely thankful to the very kind funders, sponsors and partners for valuing what PhotoIreland Festival adds to the cultural landscape in Ireland.
Let’s celebrate!
