Organized in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of MoMA’s landmark New Photography series and the forthcoming Lines of Belonging exhibition, this Forum on Contemporary Photography convenes an international group of artists working in and out of four cities across the globe—Johannesburg, Kathmandu, Mexico City, and New Orleans—which have existed as centers of life, creativity, and communion for longer than the nation states in which they are presently situated. The presentations will be framed around a series of questions for the featured speakers, drawing out threads beyond geographic boundaries: How do historical narrative, memory, and cultural inheritance intersect in your work? How do you engage the idea of a border? Who do you make your pictures of, and who do you make your pictures for? How does your work contend with experiences that might be obscured or left aside?
For this convening we are delighted to be joined by the following artists and collectives:
Sandra Blow
Gabrielle Goliath
L. Kasimu Harris
Lebohang Kganye
Tania Franco Klein
Sabelo Mlangeni
Nepal Picture Library
Sheelasha Rajbhandari
Renee Royale
Gabrielle Garcia Steib
Prasiit Sthapit
Lindokuhle Sobekwa
Lake Verea (Francisca Rivero-Lake and Carla Verea)
Cofounded by curators Roxana Marcoci and Eva Respini on February 16, 2010, and conceived as an experimental platform for free-form critical discussions, MoMA’s forums on contemporary photography are designed to encourage debate about the perspectives and scope of still and moving images and other forms of picture-making among leading artists, curators, and theorists in the field. The creative process of today is not solitary but dynamic, evolving from countless partnerships. These forums offer an intellectual milieu that values the scholarly reassessment of pivotal ideas in art, innovative practices, and complex and competing visions of modern and contemporary art.
Roxana Marcoci, The David Dechman Senior Curator and Acting Chief Curator of Photography, The Robert B. Menschel Department of Photography, MoMA, begins each session with an introduction to the topic, providing context for the conversation. Four to seven featured speakers then present for five to 10 minutes each. The presentations are followed by a probing, critical Q&A session and a moderated discussion with all the guests.
Read an article about the Forums from Art in America.
This Forum on Contemporary Photography is organized by Roxana Marcoci, Acting Chief Curator and The David Dechman Senior Curator of Photography, and Caitlin Ryan, Assistant Curator, The Robert B. Menschel Department of Photography, MoMA.
The Forums on Contemporary Photography are made possible through the
Peter C. Bunnell Fund.