Space of Flows

Framing an Unseen Reality

As guest curator for the 16th edition of the Krakow Photomonth I compiled a program with an international selection of artists, whose works focuses on movements of people across the world, flows of information in virtual spaces, and floating substances across the earth. The exhibited works address issues on migration, the invisibility and intangibility of digital data, and urgent environmental issues.

The programme of Krakow Photomonth 2018 derives its thematic approach from the concept of “space of flows”, as set forth by the Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells in his seminal 1996 volume The Rise of the Network Society.

Space of Flows: Framing an Unseen Reality (2018) takes as its starting point our contemporary society in which geographically distant elements are brought together, quite often, continuously and in real time. Just because of the networked society, more than ever before we have become aware that what we undertake and decide here can have severe consequences for a faraway locales. The apparent inability of those in power to regulate complex matters like migration policies, securing our private data in a virtual space, or preventing pollutants from slipping freely into the environment, is a threat not only to our way of life but also to the earth’s eco-system.

In the heavily charged image culture of our contemporary societies, photographers and video artists are able to provide a frame through which to see this sometimes unsettling reality. They might offer us a fresh perspective on an “unseen reality”, but they might also push us out of our comfort zones. The artists’ shared method is a deep investigation of their subject, a commitment for years with the people involved, as well as collaborations with scientists, journalists, and essential technical specialists. Where traditional forms of documentary photography failed to serve their artistic purposes, they have sought to explore new formats.

Envisioned as one overarching group show, Krakow Photomonth blends stories and images in an attempt to grapple the “space of flows”, and investigate its implications. The exhibitions are scattered around 11 different locations in the city’s galleries and museums and was on show between 14th of April and 24th of June 2018 in Bunkier Sztuki Gallery of Contemporary Art, MOCAK Museum of Contemporary Art, Gallery Dom Norymburski, Ethnographic Museum,  Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology, Gallery Pauza, Starmach Gallery, Gallery Szara, Gallery ZPAF, and Tytano Festival Centre.

Space of Flows: Framing an Unseen Reality was curated by Iris Sikking in close collaboration with producer Joanna Gorlach, graphic designer Damian Nowak, director Aga Olszewska and many others.

Artists:
Edmund Clark & Crofton Black; Rune Peitersen; Armand Quetsch; Agnieszka Rayss; Katja Stuke & Oliver Sieber; Esther Hovers; Michal Luczak; Salvatore Vitale; Sander Breure & Witte van Hulzen; Eva Leitolf; Tudor Bratu; Daniela Friebel; Łukasz Skąpski; Robert Knoth & Antoinette de Jong; Agata Grzybowska; Jules Spinatsch; Axel Braun; Mark Curran; Susan Schuppli; Anaïs López; Clément Lambelet.

Curatorial Statement