The Noorderlicht International Photo Festival 2021 takes place from 7th August onwards at several locations in Groningen and Friesland. Alaa Abu Asad (DAI, 2018) and Florian Göttke ( DAI's HTDTWT coordinator) are contributing to SPLINTERED THOUGHTS AND FRAGILE PLOTS (curators: Tiiu Meiner and Rawad Baaklini) and THE MAKEABLE MIND ( curated by Paulien Dresscher and George Knegtel) respectively.

| tag: Groningen

THE MAKEABLE MIND
Curator: Paulien Dresscher | Junior curator: George Knegtel
Departing from photography, the 28th edition focuses on the entire spectrum of the image, both analogue and digital: from traditional photography to digital and interactive images, internet glitches, machine learning, virtual reality, street guerrilla actions, performances, sound installations and deep fakes. From the open call, but also by invitation, festival curator Paulien Dresscher – in collaboration with junior curator George Knegtel and Noorderlicht curator Wim Melis – came to a selection of some seventy participating artists from the Netherlands and abroad, who will be presented at no fewer than 15 locations in Groningen and Friesland.

Paulien Dresscher: “There are more flavours than fake or not fake, with a wealth of images and stories hidden between them. Sometimes dystopian, sometimes utopian or simply fantastic. But nevertheless, exciting and fascinating. With algorithms as our personal advisors, we all think we recognise objective reality within our own bubble, but if there is one thing we can know about that truth, it is that it is not singular.”

The festival’s pièce de resistance is the multimedia installation ‘LAWKI-NOW, Life As We Know It’. Commissioned by Noorderlicht and in cooperation with MU Hybrid Art Space, the work was developed by ARK especially for the Der Aa-Kerk choir. ‘LAWKI-NOW’ is an immersive cinematic experience that combines machine learning with human craftsmanship and visitor interaction. The result is a gigantic audiovisual instrument that confronts the audience with the reality of our lives.

ARTISTS THE MAKEABLE MIND
Alfonso Almendros (ES) | Ali Eslami (IR) & Klasien van de Zandschulp (NL) | Andrea Stultiens (NL) | Aristidis Schnelzer (DE) | ARK (Federico Campagna, Louis Braddock Clarke, Roosje Klap, Arran Lyon, Senka Milutonovic, Teoniki Rozynek, Valentin Vogelmann & Zuzanna Zgierska) (NL) | Bas Uterwijk (NL) | Beatrice Schuett Moumdjian (BG) | Camille Lévêque (FR) & Lucie Khahoutian (FR) | Daniel Mayrit (ES) | David Magnusson (SE) | Diego Moreno (MX) | Elena Efeoglou (GR) | Eleonora Calvelli (IT) | Elisa Maenhout (BE) | Evan Roth (US) | Ewa Doroszenko (PL) | Federico Estol (UY) | Flora Reznik (AR) | Florian Göttke (DE) | Floris Kaayk (NL) | Forensic Architecture (GB) | Frederik Heyman (BE) | Gaetan Boisson (FR) | Grayson Cooke (NZ) | Helmut Smits (NL) | Hester Scheurwater (NL) | Ilona Szwarc (PL) | Jacques Perconte (FR) | Jan Robert Leegte (NL) | Joe Paul Cyriac (IN) | Joel Jimenez (CR) | Latipa (US) | Lisa di Donato (US) | Lisa Hoffman (DE) | Lisa van Casand (NL) | Manuela Braunmüller (DE) | Mara Sánchez-Renero (MX) | Marco Frauchiger (CH) | Margit Lukács (NL) & Persijn Broersen (NL) | Marjolein Blom (NL) | Marta Zgierska (PL) | Sijia Ma (CN) | Natalia Kepesz (PL) | Nathaniel White (GB) | Polymorf (NL) | Rick Pushinsky (GB) | Sam ten Thij (NL) | Santiago Martinelli (AR) | Sheung Yiu (HK) | Silas Bahr (DE) | Simone C Niquille (CH/NL) | Stephanie Dinkins (US) | Stephanie Lepp (US) | Sumi Anjuman (BD) | Tamara Shogaolu (US) | Thomas Kuijpers (NL) | Walter Costa (IT)

YOUNG CURATORS – SPLINTERED THOUGHTS AND FRAGILE PLOTS
Curators: Tiiu Meiner and Rawad Baaklini
Young Curators is the talent programme of the Noorderlicht International Photo Festival. This third edition is programmed by the Estonian curator and writer Tiiu Meiner and the Lebanese curator and designer Rawad Baaklini. Together they have developed a multidisciplinary exhibition in the Noorderlicht Studio around the theme of the festival. In ‘Splintered Thoughts and Fragile Plots’, with interactive installations, videos and performances, they reveal how easy it is to manipulate things we believe in, and how we decide to go along with a story.

ARTISTS
Walid Raad (LB) | Liza Wolters (NL) | Ceola Tunstall-Behrens (GB) | Alaa Abu Asad (PS) | Jacob Dwyer (GB) | Micheline Nahra (LB) | Maria Khatchadourian (LB) | Sergi Casero (ES) | Emirhan Hakin (TR) | Sherida Kuffour (NL) | Sarane Mathis (FR)

Locations Groningen Noorderlicht Studio, Der Aa-kerk, Pictura, NP3, Forum Groningen, Kunstpunt Groningen, Tschumipaviljoen and Artphy | Locations Friesland Afslag BLV, Museum Heerenveen, Museumkerk van Wierum, Theaterkerk Nes, Gemaal De Heining and Gemaal Ropta | Location The Hague Sound and Vision The Hague

https://www.noorderlicht.com/en/programma/noorderlicht-fotofestival-2021/

https://www.noorderlicht.com/en/fotografen/alaa-abu-asad

https://www.noorderlicht.com/en/fotografen/florian-gottke