PRESS RELEASE
In March of this year, Vienna will once again be all about photography: from March 9 to 27, 2022, the FOTO WIEN festival will shine the spotlight on the medium of photography with more than 140 exhibitions and over 300 events. The festival is organised by KUNST HAUS WIEN and features numerous programme partners. Museums, art institutions, galleries, art universities and exhibition spaces will showcase current photographic positions not only in the fields of art, but also reportage and fashion photography.
Two topics define this year's festival: Focus on Female Photographers highlights the outstanding, yet not always fully recognised photographic achievements of women. Rethinking Nature/Rethinking Landscape focuses on the key role of photography in the perception of nature and landscape, and takes a critical look at the ways we deal with nature. Solo shows and group exhibitions throughout Vienna will showcase domestic and international positions in artistic as well as documentary, reportage and fashion photography. The accompanying events programme involving guided tours, workshops, symposia, talks, book presentations, studio visits and daily Bildbesprechungen (short lectures focussing on individual photographs), invites visitors to delve deeper into a wide range of topics.
The Festival Headquarters in the Atelier Augarten serves as the central hub of FOTO WIEN. The Headquarters is not only the venue for exhibitions on the key topics of the festival, but also a place of encounter, exchange and dialogue. During the symposium "Wie hältst du's mit dem Material" (What about the Material?) on March 18 and 19, a variety of actors in the photography scene will share their views and analyse the manifold challenges we encounter in the practical and theoretical engagement with photography, and in the field of education. A key concern of the symposium is to bring the voices and perspectives of artists into the debate, so as to identify new fields of action for politics and institutions.
How NFTs affect the production, distribution and collecting of photography will be discussed by international experts on March 16.
With the Photobook Exhibition, the Photobook Market, the Photobook Award and numerous book presentations and book signings, the last weekend of the festival is all about the photobook.
Our programme partners will also host openings, guided tours, discussions and studio visits as part of their exhibition programme, offering a wide variety of events over the entire duration of the festival. Visitors are invited to make new discoveries and encounter photography in all its manifold and diverse manifestations.
Due to the 2021 pandemic, FOTO WIEN has been postponed to 2022. Depending on the pandemic situation, events will be held as in-person events, in hybrid or in digital form, and safety protocols may vary. The next edition of FOTO WIEN is scheduled for March 8 – 26, 2023.
PRESS TEXT FOR FOTO WIEN 2022: DOWNLOAD HERE