Different Worlds in Bratislava
Young Contemporary Photography from SouthEast Europe
19 April – 25 May 2017
Central European House of Photography, Bratislava, Slovakia
Participating artists: Lana Bregar / Jaka Bulc / Dejan Clement / Mia Ćuk / Vedad Divović / Ibro Hasanović / Sanja Knežević Jovanović / Andrea Palašti / Tina Umer
Curator: Jasna Jernejšek, Michaela Bosakova
Last year we have witnessed the fourth edition of the Different Worlds competition and group exhibition with which Photon – Centre for Contemporary Photography successfully continues its Contemporary Young Photography initiative, which (with the help of participating experts) encourages, evaluates and presents young and upcoming artists, up to 35 years of age, who work in the field of contemporary art photography. As in the previous editions, the competition guidelines promote the idea of diversity, difference and critical thought.
For the second year running the competition is open to the Western Balkans region (including Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia). The group exhibition Different Worlds 2016 presents the works by nine artists and photographers from the former Yugoslav states and through them provides an insight into the newest tendencies in contemporary photography within the region.
The artists were selected by an international jury composed of the following members: Sophia Greiff (FotoDoks, Munich) Jasna Jernejšek (Photon – Centre for Contemporary Photography, Ljubljana), Lara Plavčak (Kino Šiška, Ljubljana) and István Virágvölgyi (Robert Capa Center, Budapest).
Staying true to its predecessors, the fourth edition of the Different Worlds did not come with a prescribed theme. This was clearly reflected in the diversity of the received works, in their original expressions and poetics as well as in the various photographic and photography linked practices and techniques that were applied. From the strong competition consisting of almost one hundred applications, the jury selected nine original projects, with almost no common denominators with the exception of geographic location. The selected works range from long-term conceptual projects, documentary pursuits and storytelling (real or fictitious), to the appropriation of found photographs and systematic creation of archives. As regards their contents, all works – some looking towards the outside, into the direct surroundings, others turned towards the inside, into the personal world – represent a unique view on the current social reality and an auto-reflection of the artist’s position within it.