International Symposium on Photography & Visual Culture
International Symposium on Photography & Visual Culture
The Archivo LAB is an innovative visual arts laboratory situated at the intersection of photography and lens based media, integrating theory, criticism and creative practice. Following the establishment of the Archivo Interdisciplinary Research Network, the LAB emerges as an experimental platform dedicated to research-oriented artistic exploration. Here, we investigate various visual creative strategies and methodologies as vehicles for knowledge production within the realm of contemporary visual arts. The Archivo LAB offers a series of scholarly webinars and meetings where resident artists and practitioners engage in dialogue with experts in visual culture and contemporary art. Together, participants embark on an exploration of experimentation, presentation, and mediation of technical images, to expand the boundaries of artistic expression in today's art landscape.
FORMAT & DURATION
The Archivo LAB spans half a year, running from January to July, conducted remotely via ZOOM video conferencing. The programme welcomes visual artists and practitioners to reflect on photography, film, and other lens-based media. Prospective applicants should be aged 18 or above, with no restriction based on nationality or geographical location.
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Throughout the program's duration, participants partake in several activities, including: research webinars, reading groups sessions, and curatorial meetings aimed at presenting and discussing their project's progress. As part of the LAB outcomes, participants are expected to showcase their work in online public events organised by the Archivo Platform.
ARCHIVO ACQUISITION PRIZE
The International Association of Photography and Visual Culture (IAPVC) annually bestows the Archivo Acquisition Prize to an artist from the Archivo LAB. This award celebrates the conceptual and artistic accomplishments achieved throughout the programme, acknowledging the significance and originality of the final artistic output in relation to the theme explored in each LAB edition.
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The works of the awarded artists become part of the Archivo Collection, which aims to promote, valorise, and support the participating artists. This collection serves various purposes, including showcasing the artwork in future initiatives such as publications and exhibitions, including original curatorial projects developed within the Archivo Interdisciplinary Research Network.
The prize selection committee is chaired by Archivo's director and comprises three additional reviewers, invited for each edition of the LAB. The decision rendered by the selection committee is deemed final.
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THE INDIGENOUS GAZE
VISUAL METHODOLOGIES AND DECOLONIAL STRATEGIES IN CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ARTS
VISITING MENTORS
Astrid Korporaal · Bianca Salvo · Helen Starr · Nasheli Jiménez del Val · Samira Jamouchi · Spring Ulmer · Marianna Tsionki · Rashmi Wiswanathan · Sol Izquierdo de la Viña
ARCHIVE & CONFLICT
POST-PHOTOGRAPHIC PRACTICES IN A POST-DIGITAL WORLD
Archivo LAB 2024 "Archivo and Conflict" aimed to critically investigate the relationship between photography, the archive and conflict across different temporalities. Throughout the LAB programme, artists will delve into the materialities and immaterialities of archival production within the digital age in regard to contemporary critical appropriations concerned with different perspectives on conflict, as well as history’s repressed events and violations. It further intends to examine the techno-aesthetics of datafication, understanding artistic strategies as potential sites for resisting and counter-acting current extractivist processes, which tend to capture and transform everyday life into data.
AGNIESZKA RAYSS
POSTCARDS FROM THE WAR (2024)
"Postcards from The War" is an artistic and historical exploration beginning on February 24, 2024, marked by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The influx of images on social media during this period captured real war scenes just 200 km from the artist's hometown. These images, primarily taken by civilians, included dramatic scenes of destruction, military movements, and the human cost of war.
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Despite the extensive documentation of the war, Agnieszka Rayss notes that many significant stories and moments are overlooked by mainstream media. Private photography during the war thus becomes crucial, serving as both a memory frame and evidence of the conflict. The screenshots, while visually compelling and reminiscent of war movie stills, are unsettling due to their real-life context.​ "Postcards from The War" is a poignant combination of these propaganda postcards with contemporary war photography. This juxtaposition highlights both the ideological source and the grim reality resulting from imperialistic pursuits. The project pays tribute to Martha Rosler's "Bringing the War Home" and is named "Postcards from The War," reflecting the Rayss' inspiration and the thematic fusion of past propaganda and present conflict.
BIANCA SALVO
WHEN STATUES FALL (2024)
"When Statues Fall," initiated in late 2022, is an ongoing exploration into Western heroic narratives, scrutinizing their evolution across historical and contemporary contexts, both physically and digitally. Between January and May 2024, during the Archivo LAB program, the project sought to challenge and reinterpret traditional notions of heroism.
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This work delves into themes of permanence versus change, disruption versus creation, and the virtual versus the tangible, challenging the boundaries between fantasy and reality. By juxtaposing these concepts, it interrogates established models of collective memory centered on the civilizing hero. It further examines how digital archives and AI-generated images shape and suggest narratives, unveiling the complexities of Western-constructed heroic ideals. Practical explorations included staged photography, AI-generated images, archival footage, and sculpture, resulting in diverse and multifaceted outcomes.
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Inspired by global acts of toppling public monuments in recent years, "When Statues Fall" reflects on monuments as ideological and physical markers of territory and space, extending these constructs into digital realms. Bianca Salvo was particularly struck by the symbolic and physical disintegration of these objects of power, a motif transcending historical periods and geographic boundaries. This inspired a visual parallel with the law of gravity, encapsulated in the statement, “What goes up, must go down.” This metaphor highlights the cosmic resonance in the rise and fall of heroic narratives, influenced by societal values, cultural dynamics, and historical events. ​"When Statues Fall" captures the essence of symbolic descent while commenting on deconstruction, transformation, and the complex relationship between power, memory, and cultural identity.
CHRIS LE MESSURIER
BEYOND THE SEA (2024)
​"Beyond the Sea" explores the pervasive influence of Big Tech and platform capitalists, comparing their data-hungry systems to the seafaring empires of the past. The project examines the expansion of these entities as they monetize our data and control our attention, drawing parallels to historical colonization.
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The inspiration for this work comes from the fragmented remnants of Leptis Magna, a Roman city in present-day Libya, which were plundered by the British and now lie scattered across various locations. This disjointedness and fragmentation prompted reflections on culturally significant objects stripped of meaning and stored in museum archives. Chris Le Messurier questions how archival resistance can adapt to the post-digital age and what opportunities exist in critically appropriating rapidly advancing tools.
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"Beyond the Sea" explores AI's role in contemporary image-making, highlighting the issues of data plundering, rehashing unrelated data, and the user's complicity in refining machine outputs. Discovering numerous unphotographed objects in the British Museum's online catalogue, Le Messurier fed these entries into an image generator, creating a video loop with a synthetic voice narrating the original museum labels. This "flickering history" represents an unstable and questionable amalgam, challenging the meaning and representation of appropriated images.​ Reflecting on his role as a photographer and collector, the artist considers the relationship between photography, humanism, and colonialism. This relationship perpetuates the "othering" tendencies of museum collections. Le Messurier suggests that a philosophy moving away from anthropocentrism towards new potentials may hold answers, particularly in understanding the apparatus of control behind technologies like Midjourney, LAION-5B, and Adobe's proprietary systems. "Beyond the Sea" is an exploration of these new colonizing forms that operate under the radar. By peering deep into the interconnected network stretching across the oceans, the project aims to reveal the hidden forms and influences of these modern data-driven entities.