Brighton Photo Biennial Press Release - New Documents, curated by Martin Parr

Brighton Photo Biennial 2010

New Documents
Curated by Martin Parr
02.10.2010 > 14.11.2010

For its fourth edition, Brighton Photo Biennial is delighted to be working with the internationally renowned photographer, editor and curator Martin Parr.
"As curator, I want to make this festival fresh, distinctive and focussed on Brighton & Hove. This city is the ideal venue for a photo biennial. It has a natural cultural constituency of its own, and its proximity to London promises a potentially huge audience. By presenting the very best new work in an exciting and imaginative way, Brighton Photo Biennial 2010 will put photography in Brighton & Hove on the national and international map.

As well as using existing venue networks, with a keynote exhibition at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, we shall present work in places that will really bring photography to the eye of the public, such as advertising hoardings and shop windows. New exhibition spaces will include unusual central locations. This will be a Biennial that can be viewed by people on foot. Brighton Photo Biennial 2010 will be the first frame-free photography festival in the world: it will reflect the immediacy and vibrancy of contemporary photography. The images will be pinned onto walls, and many other different surfaces. We shall work with partners such as manufacturers of state-of-the-art digital printers, who will make all the prints.

The Biennial’s main theme will be New Documents. All the work will be new, and on the cutting edge of photography. This festival will be about the process of discovery, with opportunities to see and engage with exciting contemporary work. In my travels round the world, I have been seeking out new photography from Japan, Asia and Latin America, as well as Europe and North America.

Many of the images by exhibiting international photographers will represent their responses to Brighton & Hove. There will be ample opportunities for participation by people of all ages through a wide range of community and educational events.
The Launch Weekend will be a must-attend event for anyone interested in photography. Shows will open until late; and there will be an information and social hub at the University of Brighton, with folio reviews by invited photographers and discussions on the future of documentary practice. A programme of complementary events is proposed, to include comedy and art house films. Some objects from my own extensive collections will also be on show."

Martin Parr

Proposed artists and exhibitions include:

• Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. Keynote exhibition. Commissions exploring Brighton & Hove by three internationally regarded artists: Alec Soth (USA),
  Rinko Kawauchi (Japan), Stephen Gill (UK).
• University of Brighton Gallery. Presentations of exciting new work
• Fabrica. House of Vernacular. Seven collections including:
  Photo-painting from North East Brazil shown in a living room setting;
  Street portraits from Bogota, with projections and music.
  All from the Archive of Modern Conflict.
• Photographic survey of street bins showing their design development through
  the 1950s and 1960s, from the Design Archives: University of Brighton.
• Lighthouse. Two commissions by emerging artists, Molly Landreth (USA) and
  Zoe Strauss (USA), including photographs and moving-images, exploring the
  lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities of Brighton & Hove.
• Brighton Photo Fringe. Exhibitions by local photographers in venues throughout Brighton & Hove: galleries, shops, cafés, churches, studios and libraries.
• Educational activities form an intrinsic part of Brighton Photo Biennial’s remit. This well established scheme creates new audiences for photography through a series of year round artist-led projects, with schools and community groups.

The BPB 2010 education programme will be informed by Martin Parr’s curatorial concept with itsfocus on innovative, contemporary practice and digital, frame-free photography. Building on the success of previous Brighton Photo Biennials, projects will include opportunities for school pupils to develop fresh ideas, assisted by students from the University of Brighton.

Brighton Photo Biennial presents international artists from a range of cultural
backgrounds, through commissions and exhibitions of both recent work and historical
work in new contexts. It is committed to facilitating debate on photography in all its
forms in order to reach the widest possible audiences, and to create opportunities for
participation and engagement.

BPB is a partnership organisation and works with a range of galleries, institutions and educational bodies in Brighton & Hove, together with venues across the South East region. Its founding partners are the University of Brighton (which hosts its office) and Photoworks (the UK’s leading visual arts agency for photography that commissions new work, produces exhibitions and publications and initiates research and education programmes). The Biennial also works closely with Brighton Photo Fringe, which encourages and showcases local talent.

Brighton Photo Biennial
University of Brighton, Grand Parade
Brighton BN2 OJY
T: +(44)1273 643052
E: mail@bpb.org.uk
www.bpb.org.uk

To view and download a selection of high resolution images visit:
www.lja.uk.com/index.php?page=1877