PHotoEspaña 2017

Each summer, Madrid becomes a major event for the world of visual arts and photography. With exhibitions in the main museums, halls and art galleries, as well as diverse activities   related to the chosen theme each year, PHotoEspaña offers the possibility to discover the latest tendencies in photographic art as well as the latest projects by the most internationally renowned artists.

For PHotoEspaña, its 20th Anniversary is a great opportunity to take a step forward 20 years after its beginnings. During 2017 and 2018 (anniversary of the birth of the festival), new ideas and investments will be made, leading to the consolidation of the Festival both nationally and internationally.

This latest edition presents 100 exhibitions with the works of 514 artists and a programme of 20 activities for professionals and public which takes place at 62 venues.

The National Photography Prizewinner, Alberto García-Alix, joins in this celebration with a "carte blanche" in which the photographer has proposed six exhibitions and one activity.  Under the title The Exaltation of the Human Being, García- Alix has brought together six heterodox authors influenced by the author: Anders Petersen, Paulo Nozolino, Antoine d’Agata, Pierre Molinier, Karlheinz Weinberger and Teresa Margolles, the main features of six exhibitions located at diverse Madrid venues, and Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, at the helm of a publishing laboratory editorial, who bring the idea of the “sublime / heterodox” binomial into practice.

The PHotoEspaña programme is divided into two sections: the Official Section and the Off Festival, and presents different awards to recognise the work of some of the participating photographers.  

The Official Section is made up of 22 exhibitions presenting the work of artists like Elliott Erwitt, Peter Fraser, Cristina García Rodero, Minor White, Gabriele Basílico or Carlos Saura.

The new voices of photography have their space at the Sala Canal de Isabel II, with A Certain Panorama –recent signature photography in Spain – with works by over 50 photographers that represent the latest photography trends in our country; at Casa de América with Confluences: 10 years of Transatlantic, which exhibits the work of 19 photographers; at the Cultural Centre de la Villa, with the exhibition, Think in the Future. New Photographic Tales in Dakar. The Fernán Gómez Cultural Centre Cultural de la Villa rounds off the offer with Coal by the  photographer from Murcia, Gil Antonio Munuera, who displays his latest work.

The exhibition proposals of 36 Madrid galleries make up the Off Festival network, which wishes to foster the promotion and development of the photographic market. The Off Festival includes works by: Roger Ballen, Pilar Pequeño, Marina Núñez, Alberto García-Alix, Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris Webb, Catalá –Roca, Marta Soul, Cristina Macaya, Emi Anrakuji, Eduardo Momeñe, Mariana Cook, Cristobal Hara, Paloma Gámez, Alejandro Marote or Kathy Ryan, among others.

In addition to the museums and exhibition halls that usually participate in PhotoEspaña,  Casa Árabe, the Korean Cultural Centre, Hotel One Shot Recoletos and El Paracaidista are joining in. Furthermore, exhibitions can also be seen at the main Spanish cultural institutions taking part in the celebration, such as the MACBA, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Es Baluard in Palma de Mallorca, TEA – Tenerife Space of the Arts and the IVAM, as well as venues in Berlin Bratislava, Chalon-Sur-Saône, Dublin, Lausanne, Merignac and Warsaw in Europe; Buenos Aires and Chicago in the Americas; Beijing and Kyoto in Asia and Melbourne in Australia.

Furthermore, between 16th and 18th June, PHotoEspaña joins in the activities organised by Madrid City Council for the celebration of the 4th Centenary of the Plaza Mayor with Get your Portrait! This activity offers residents of Madrid and visitors the opportunity to be portrayed by the leading emerging photographers in this genre.