The first ever Photoworks Festival β Propositions for Alternative Narratives β challenges what a photography festival is and who it can be for and takes place from 24 September to 25 October The artists β many of whom will show new work for the first time in the UK β intentionally set out to show a more nuanced perspective on a subject or topic, often using work which blurs the lines between mediums.
The Photoworks Festival forms part of our 25th anniversary year and is a major component of Propositions for Alternative Narratives, our programming theme for Led by Shoair Mavlian, Director, Photoworks, and grounded in ten years of research, Propositions for Alternative Narratives attempts to rethink traditional histories and challenge cultural hierarchies to support artists whose work has been lesser seen and under-acknowledged to date.
The festival challenges the idea of a linear narrative of photography, instead suggesting a more complex and interconnected revisionist history which helps build a fuller and more complex story. Photoworks Festival is for everyone. It can be experienced as an intimate viewing experience via a domestic, community or gallery space, outside in a busy public setting or online, via engaging interaction, conversation and exchange.
Designed as a deconstructed magazine, this will include new texts proposing alternative histories of photography alongside contemporary artists making work which present new perspectives, challenging the mainstream. We will also distribute the box to community groups and universities, galleries, artist studios and more.
It will be presented on poster sites and billboards across the city, from BN1 to the outer suburbs, bringing a global roster of artists to the streets for the first time.
