24th MONTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY BRATISLAVA
The Memory Lab exhibition is hosted at the Institut français and is curated by Koklesova Bohunka and Michaela Bosakova.
Dramaturgy in the 24th year of the Month of Photography stands on four pillars. The first pillar consists of exhibitions that thematise photography and theatre. The group of exhibitions includes one that is exceptional, Theatrical World 1839–1939, and also the unique original prints by Rudolf Koppitz, an Austrian author of the early 20th century. A renewed interest in inscenation can be observed in the retrospective work by Milota Havránková who inspired the Slovak New Wave. We present a detailed reconstruction of the work of this group at the House of Arts / Kunsthalle.
The second topic of the Month of Photography is based on the 25th anniversary of the fall of communism in 1989. Five years ago we exhibited photographs that authentically captured the way of life in countries at
the time of “real socialism”. This time we have prepared a series of exhibitions that tell how photography, and also culture, was misused in the era of totalitarian regimes (not only communist but also fascist). The title Propaganda and Power already suggests how photography was dealt with, not only by dictators such as Klement Gottwald, but also Jozef Tiso and Enver Hodža. The exhibition “Colors of the Republic” documents propaganda in early colour photographs from the German Democratic Republic. István Bielik reminds us of the falsehood of Russian propaganda, in the news from Maidan square in Kiev in January. As always, an essential part of the Month of Photography are exhibitions of other Slovak photographers; from history and also from the present: Kornél Divald, Ján Galanda, Juraj Lipták, Pavol Breier (Prague), Silvia Saparová (Warsaw), Pavel Maria Smejkal (Vienna), etc.
Amon the highlights of Central European and world photography include the Sony World Photography Award exhibition, which gathers together the best of current journalistic photography; and of course, the work of Gabriele Basilico, an exceptional Italian photographer of major cities of the world.