PHOTO:Vienna,Memory Lab-Photography Challenges History

Vienna is participating in the European Month of Photography for the sixth time with a total of 175 exhibitions: One of the highlights is the joint exhibition for the European Month of Photography, “Memory Lab – Photography Challenges History”, which has been designed by curators from several countries and will be on display in all eight partner cities.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Musa Archive

 

In 2014, the European Month of Photography not only celebrates its tenth anniversary; the network also welcomes a new partner, the Athens Photo Festival. Burdened with a fraught historic legacy (two World Wars, disintegration in the East and West, the civil war in the former Yugoslavia …), artists working in the early twenty-first century continue to explore the histories of their countries, reflecting on subjective experiences and helping us gain a deeper understanding of the past and its repercussions. What does the photographic image signify for the making of a past and a history? How can the distance between then and now, between present and past realities of life be bridged? The critical examination of visual recollections and the framing of memories paradigmatically illustrate the challenge the artist who gives creative form to a history faces no less than the viewer who beholds his or her work: pictures that appeal to our recollection bring the past to life, but they also demand that, in remembering it, we remain conscious of our own present. The works selected for the exhibition, many of which are highly personal, show that history is always made up of multiple components: it involves the past event as such, its (re)construction, and ultimately also us, who seek to understand what happened in the light of today’s world. Participating Photographers of “Memory Lab – Photography Challenges History”: Tanja Boukal, Steven Cohen & Marianne Greber, Marcell Esterházy, Anna Jermolaewa , Noro Knap, Tatiana Lecomte, Andreas Mühe, Erwin Olaf, Gábor Ősz, Marija Mojca Pungercar, Aura Rosenberg, Lina Scheynius, Juraj Starovecký.

Info: Curating: Gunda Achleitner, Museum Start Gallery Artothek, Felderstraße 6-8, Vienna, Duration: 28/10/14-21/1/15, Days & Hours: Tue, Wed, Fri00-18:00, Tue: 11:00-20:00, Sat: 11:00-16:00, www.musa.at/en