e.co

 

October 26th, 2012 - January 5th, 2013

Even though photographic collectives are not a new phenomenon, in recent years they have become particularly relevant. In an atmosphere of image saturation and multiple channels of communication, professional photographers are forced to seek new forms of representation and alternative sources to make their work visible. Such groups provide a platform that reacts to hostile situations reminding us that it is increasinlgy necessary to join efforts to achieve results necessary to overcome global problems.

Curated by Claudi Carreras, this exhibition brought together photographic projects by twelve European and Latin American photographic collectives, each tasked with crafting a visual essay about one of the most important topics of our day, the environment. Free of direction, the collectives each defined “environment” for themselves. The resulting total of 102 photographs reflect the interests and concerns of each individual group and nation, as well as the working process of each collective. With this premise, each collective freely chose the topics and locations of their project. Thus, the exhibition was a sample of the most pressing environmental problems, in the countries where the collectives are operating. At the same time, it was a way to understand the peculiarities of teamwork and its modes of representation within the context of the presentation of contemporary art dealing with a specific theme.

The Government of Spain - through the Embassy of Spain's Cultural Office in Washington, D.C. and its network of General Consulates and Cervantes Institutes in key cities - promotes Spanish culture and art in the United States and strives to strengthen bilateral, cultural, artistic and academic exchanges. Spanish-American cultural cooperation aims to create multiple links between the creative sectors of both countries and promote Spain's contemporary artistic expression with special attention to America's Hispanic Community, striving to emphasize plurality expression and opinion, in line with Spain's own diversity in language, creativity in the arts and unique cultural heritage. This exhibition is being circulated through 'SPAIN arts & culture.

The photographic collectives represented in this exhibition were from: 
Germany (Ostkreuz), Argentina (Sub.Coop), Brazil (Cia de Foto and Garapa), Costa Rica (Collective Wanderer), France (Odessa, Tendance Floue and Transit), Italy (TerraProject), Mexico (Mondaphoto), Peru (Supay Photos and Versus-Photo), Portugal (KameraPhoto), UK (Documentography), Venezuela (ONG) and Spain (Blank Paper, NoPhoto, Pandora and Noise Photo) as well as a multinational group that represents photographers from Eastern Europe (East & Ost).