Read the 2020 festival catalogue here!

Symposium: The Climate Emergency in 50 Rounds

Fotobokfestival Oslo 2020 continued with two days of online symposium in conjunction with the main exhibition, The Climate Emergency in 50 Rounds, curated by artist Ethan Rafal. The 10 artists included in the symposium represent a cross-section from the main exhibition. Their research is carried out in ecosystems across the planet, and they make photographs and photo books through a diverse set of means — from camera-less material process to lens-based photography.

Whether in pursuit of a deeper engagement with nature, evidence, or radical methods to confront the carbon extraction states and corporations responsible for the climate emergency, these artists join forces in Oslo for the purpose of public knowledge. The end goal is a survivable planet — these projects offer clues on how to get there.

You are invited to join us for the sessions as a viewer and as a participant. Each session will run 45-50 minutes. We will begin each session with a short video introducing the artist’s project. This will be followed by a discussion between each artist and photography writer, Taco Hidde Bakker. After this there will be an open discussion with the audience. Many artists will also present behind-the-scenes footage and other short works of video art — not to be missed!

Click on the name of any of the artists below to go to their presentation.

About the curator

Ethan Rafal (b. 1983, New Jersey) is an artist and photographer based in San Francisco, California and Oslo, Norway. His work deals with the individual and collective experience of violence, and the ways in which subsequent representations of violence inform personal and national mythologies. He teaches, mentors, helps run an art space, collaborates with social practice and activist groups, and curates projects in Europe and North America.

Rafal’s work functions at the intersection of photography, expanded art practice, social science research, and activism. His principal output is through photography, books, installation, and a unique presentation method that is equal parts performance art and oral tradition story telling. Major presentations of a 12-year project, Shock and Awe, were conducted in 100 venues across 14 countries. This book, and its associated performance, was presented at museums, universities, but also in many non-traditional venues, including public spaces, often created for the work itself.