At venues of private residences, the third edition of international photography festival GoaPhoto will be held in the Northern region of Goa – Aldona. The venue has been kept site specific so guests get to enjoy not only art, but also the small Portuguese-traced villages of the area.
This year, curators Akshay Mahajan and Lola Mac Dougall have led to explore several themes. Some of them include:
FOOD&PHOTO
Simon Bruegner questions the distinction between food and poison by focusing on XIXth century records of arsenic consumption in Eastern Austria in “The Arsenic Eaters” while Rajyashri Goody’s “Eat with Great Delight” comprises a collection of her own family photographs representing a joyful enjoyment of many meals. On the last day of the festival, The Edible Archives (a gastronomic project connecting food, memory and art) will curate a meal using local produce of the Condillac Farm; offering a farm-to-table meal for all.
VERNACULAR PHOTOGRAPHY
Artists Akshay Mahajan and Angela Berlinde in collaboration with anthropologist Pedro Manuel Sobral Pombo shall put forward the historic family photographs and their oral histories, titled Aldona Through Family Eyes”. Portuguese artist Ana Janeiro and Brazilian photographer Helena Martins Costa will also be exhibiting their everyday photography representing their respective countries.
THE PRIVATE / THE DOMESTIC
As explored of last year, the festival venues once again depict a private form of photography which makes reference to issues of domesticity. Taking the concept forward, artists like Pamela Singh share self-portraits in the village of Loutolim, while Tania Franco Klein uses the feminine body including her own to dictate the confinement and dystopia of an American dream gone wrong. Swiss artist Anne Golaz depicts her childhood rural form as well as participate in performed reading titled “Corbeau, to End as Expected”. Other artists like Ricardo Cases’ Dove Into the Air, Shivani Gupta’s Girl in a House and Cecile Smetana’s Diaspora all shine light on domesticity in their own unique elements.
PHOTOBOOK SECTION: The Travelling Library
This year too, the photobook manifests an important place in the festival – Italian publishing house Humboldt Books will curate a special selection from its book list to this end. Wondering where to read this curation? Find the reading space well vested in one of the venues called The Travelling Library. Federica Chiocchetti from the Photocaptionist will be in conversation around photobooks with its founding editor, Giovanna Silva.
Apart from these indulging exhibits, a four-day Magnum Workshop with photographer Olivia Arthur will too be held wherein students will get to learn her intimate art of storytelling. One scholarship will be granted to Indian photographers as well.
The unconventional yet fascinating shall unfold at the GoaPhoto festival 2019.
