In connection with the exhibition The Photographic I – Other Pictures, an international symposium will be held on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 November, in association with the Thinking Tools research group (KASK, Antwerp).
The programme, comprising lectures, artist talks and portfolio viewings, will provide a present-day view of the situation of photography in contemporary art.
Thursday 23 November 2017 - Symposium: About Looking
The ‘Other Pictures’ exhibition starts with the power of the still photographic image as a means of examining the world. The artist using his camera in the world is able to reveal specific qualities of reality that only come to light by means of the technical process. The material nature of the photographic process and the image itself invite us to view things in a different way.
The symposium is intended to question the photographic view. Several photographers are invited to present a range of perspectives and practices that may lead to a better understanding of ‘Other Pictures’. The views of John Berger provide the guiding principle, as was the case for the curators of the exhibition.
In addition, the photographers, curators and historians of photography will look back at such traditions as the ‘snapshot’ and the ‘document’. The renewed interest in the more lyrical, personal and self-reflective documentary practices of the 70s – for example in the pioneering work of the Werkstatt für photographie 1976-1986, initiated by Michael Schmidt in Berlin – may indicate a paradigm shift (away from clinical, objective photography) that is also visible in the exhibition. What might this change signify?
Practical details
- Thursday 23 November 2017
- For whom is it intended?
- Book at reservation@smak.be
- Admission:
- Programme for Thursday 23/11
- 10:00 – welcome and introduction by Inge Henneman
- 10:15 – Thomas Weski: ‘Michael Schmidt & Werkstatt für Photographie’
- 11:15 – Artist Talk by Peter Fraser
- 12:00 – Lunchbreak
- 13:00 – Steven Humblet (co-curator) on his approach to the photographic
- 13:15 – Conversation between Jitka Hanzlová, Marc De Blieck and Steven Humblet
- 14:00 – Coffee break
- 14:30 – Tanja Boon (co-curator) on the exhibition ‘Other Pictures’
- 14:45 – Sophie Berrebi on the document in contemporary art
- 15:45 – Conversation between Stephanie Kiwitt, Aglaia Konrad and Arne Schmitt
Friday 24 November 2017 - Portfolio Viewing
A selection of Master students and recent graduates from several art colleges are presenting their work in the entrance hall of the S.M.A.K. This Portfolio Viewing is intended to launch an open but in-depth dialogue and set up a meeting point for established names, specialists and talented young artists. The panel of reviewers will be made up of speakers from the symposium.
Practical details
- Friday 24 November 2017
- For whom is it intended?
- Open call
- Admission:
- 10:00 to 15:00 - Portfolio Viewing with Peter Fraser, Steven Humblet, Stephanie Kiwitt, Aglaia Konrad, Arne Schmitt (Marc De Blieck, Jean-Paul Deridder tbc)
