Futures 2020: Capa Center, Fotofestiwal Lodz and FOMU Fotomuseum

This is your last chance to catch the online exhibition RESET, curated by Salvatore Vitale, investigating one of the most tumultuous years of modernity through the eyes of seven Futures artists: Julie Poly, Ela Polkowska, Eva O’Leary, Garry Loughlin, Sanne De Wilde, Dávid Biró and Ana Zibelnik

Futures 2020 Digital Festival draws to a close this week. But the questions it has posed will linger. After a month-long exploration into how the events of this year will influence the art world — and how artists, in turn, must adapt — it is clear the Futures mission to unite the global photography community has never been more vital.

In our final survey of the emerging talent spotlighted this year, Hungary’s Capa Center presents five artists. Documentary photographer Istvan Bielik seeks to amplify stories of the downtrodden and marginalised, like the conflict in eastern Ukraine and the impact of the refugee crisis across Europe. Balazs Mate uses the medium to test the boundaries of visual perception, while Andras Ladocsi (also nominated by Hyères) organises naturalism and realism into tight compositions. Multimedia artist Daniel Szalai’s large-scale lens-based projects focus on human-animal relations, and Dorottya Vekony examines notions of the body.

Capa Center’s Assembly Talk, mediated by curator István Virágvölgyi, is entitled “Resetting the Cow: Artists reflect on mankind tailoring nature to its own needs”, featuring three contemporary artists on the topic of intensive animal farming.

Watch the live stream recording here.

Fotofestiwal Lodz also presents five emerging artists, spanning a range of disciplines. Minsk-based Masha Svyatogor crafts layered narratives through collage; the activist and visual artist Agnieszka Sejud explores identity, personal freedom and systems of oppressions, while Marta Bogdańska, also carrying a background in activism, focuses on social and geopolitical issues alongside gossip and fiction.

Brave Boy Studio — made up of Wojtek Kamerys & Jan Kazimierz Barnaś — are an independent film production company, and Warsaw-based photographer Ela Polkowska documents subjects relegated from the dominant public memory, or hidden from consciousness.

Fotofestiwal’s Assembly Talk is a lecture by Karolina Gembara (Sputnik Photos), entitled “Resetting photography: Can photography be a tool of change?” Considering several examples of so-called “activist photography”, engaged projects, participatory programmes and her own practice, Gembara explores how the medium could become an extension of democratic and inclusive processes.

Watch the live stream recording here.

The last of Futures’ 12 member institutions, FOMU Fotomuseum presents a wealth of emerging talent in David Denil, Etienne Courtois, Florine Thiebaud, Katherine Longly, Laure Cottin Stefanelli, Pierre Vanneste, Renee Lorie, Sebastian Steveniers, Sybren Vanoverberghe and Wiktoria Synak.

In FOMU’s Assembly Talk, Dr. Sandrine Colard, the historian of modern and contemporary African arts and photography, goes live in conversation with artist Léonard Pongo about the use of beauty in his representations of the Black experience — namely, how beautiful photographs can still be regarded as a legitimate and powerful means of resistance to suffering.

Watch the live stream recording here.

Futures Photography Festival is on until 31 October 2020