In the exhibition space of Fotomuseum Winterthur, 42 young talents present their works and portfolios to the public and a team of experts. Plat(t)form is aimed not only at specialists in the fields of photography and art but also at a curious public who want to discover the latest tendencies in photography and get to know young talents and their works personally. 

platform.fotomuseum.ch 

Programme 

Friday, 09.09.2022, 19:00–20:30 

Talk – the experts and Pro Helvetia guests present themselves and their work 

Saturday, 10.09.2022, 11:00–19:00 

Portfolio Viewing – visitors and experts in dialogue with the photographers 

Saturday, 10.09.2022, 20:00–24:00 

Dinner party at the museum bistro George with food, music and talks 

Sunday, 11.09.2022, 11:00–17:00 

Portfolio Viewing – visitors and experts in dialogue with the photographers 

Selection of Artists 

In his documentary series PVC MEATWAY (2018), Nigerian artist Aàdesokan (*1994/NG) sheds light on the poor hygiene standards on the so-called Bloody Meat Highway in Lagos. In this open meat market, butchers are known to prioritise sales, while health aspects are a background concern. In October 2018, Aàdesokan began observing the butchers in the market and their work with the goal of improving the hygiene standards on the highway. With the help of a designer, the artist started producing functional clothes made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and distributed them to different groups of butchers, whom he then documented at work. His series thus combines fashion and photography and shows how the introduction of simple measures can enable food to be processed more hygienically. 

Surveillance systems like facial recognition technologies play an ever-increasing role in our society. Through their series Police State (2021–), the collective RAKE, founded by multimedia artists Nuno Guerreiro de Sousa (*1993/PT), Nancy Hurman (*1991/UK), Flora Thomas (*1993/UK) and Vera Zurbrügg (*1994/CH), explores the ever-expanding network of surveillance in the UK. Initially focusing on London, one of the most surveilled cities in the world, the series investigates how surveillance technologies are implemented politically and how they influence the city’s population. Works like In Plain Sight (2021) for example, show Google Street View images of protests in which the protesters have been replaced by the police. By turning surveillance authorities back on themselves, Police State draws attention to the power structures behind the surveilling gaze and questions who ultimately benefits from surveillance systems. 

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In his work, Dutch artist Jaya Pelupessy (*1989/NL) explores photographic reproduction processes by creating elements in his images that continuously repeat themselves. These elements can be restricted to specific parts of the image or even include the entire image. Pelupessy uses this approach to reflect on how the process of reproduction affects the autonomy of an image and thus to question, ultimately, the artistic status of photography itself.  

Gender inequality and discriminating social body norms are central themes in Damla Şahinbaş’s (*1995/TR) photographic practice. In her series WE ARE REA (2021), the Turkish artist focuses on LGBTQIA+ and female subjects who are directly affected by conservative body and gender politics in Turkey. Oppression, violence and the negligence of official authorities often make it hard for such people to find a place in society. Instead, many are forced to create safer and more accepting spaces of their own. In her experimental blackand-white series, Şahinbaş reflects on this process. By ‘deforming’ her images, she reinvents them and, in doing so, tells stories of breaking with conservative Turkish society and of reorienting towards safer micro communities. 

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What does society expect of women’s self-portraits? And what does it take to subvert these expectations? Finnish photographer and visual artist Emma Sarpaniemi (*1993/FI) investigates these questions. In her playful work, which can be read as an expanded form of self-portraiture, Sarpaniemi embodies a wide variety of female roles while also exploring, together with her models, particular aspects of intimacy and companionship. Inspired by historical self-depictions of women, her work shows just how diverse definitions of femininity can be. 

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Participants 

Photographers and Artists 

Aàdesokan (NG/NL), Georgs Avetisjans (LV), Sara Bastai (PT/CH), François Bellabas (FR/US), 

Felipe Romero Beltrán (CO/ES), Anna Breit (AT), Anna-Tia Buss (CH), Zoé Clémence (CH), 

Thaddé Comar (FR), Alexandra Dautel (FR), Tamara Eckhardt (DE), Rozafa Elshan (LU/BE), 

Agnes Essonti Luque (ES), Julie Folly (CH), Lenka Glisníková (CZ), Jette Held (DE), Assaf 

Hinden (DE/IL), Hiền Hoàng (VN/DE), Josephine Jatzlau (DE), Pablo Jomaron (FR), Laila 

Kaletta (DE/CH), Fritz Enzo Kargl (AT), Vytautas Kumža (LT/NL), Youqine Lefèvre (BE), Pavo 

Marinovic (CH/FR), Thi My Lien Nguyen (CH), Jaya Pelupessy (NL), Victoria Pidust (UA/DE), 

Michelle Piergoelam (NL), Robin Plus (FR), RAKE (CH/UK/PT), Ieva Raudsepa (LV), Jana 

Rothe (LU/CH), Damla Şahinbaş (TR), Muhammad Salah (SD/DE), Emma Sarpaniemi (FI), 

Cédrine Scheidig (FR), Manuel Sékou (DE), Matilde Søes Rasmussen (DK/SE), Valentin Wedde (DE), Olivia Wünsche (CH), Lucrezia Zanardi (IT/DE) 

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Experts  

Tim Clark, editor in chief and director of 1000 Words (GB) and artistic director at Fotografia Europea (IT) 

Marco De Mutiis, digital curator at Fotomuseum Winterthur (CH) 

Marina Paulenka, director of exhibitions at Fotografiska Berlin (HR/DE) 

Anne Szefer-Karlsen, professor Curatorial Practice at The Art Academy of the University of Bergen (NO) 

Bindi Vora, artist and curator at Autograph (UK) 

Nadine Wietlisbach, director at Fotomuseum Winterthur (CH) 

Pro Helvetia Guests  

rana elnemr, artist, photographer and co-founder of Contemporary Image Collective (EG) 

Renée Akitelek Mboya, writer, curator and filmmaker (KE) 

Linh Pham, photojournalist and writer at Matca (VN) 

Yin Shuai, curator (IT) 

Anshika Varma, photographer, curator and artist (IN) 

Sarah Waiswa, photographer (KE) 

About the Museum 

Fotomuseum Winterthur plays a prominent role in presenting and discussing photography and visual culture. Its temporary solo exhibitions and thematic group shows present works both by young photographers and by those established in the field. In addition to this, the institution also studies photographic phenomena in the context of new technologies and digital media and reflects on them from a critical perspective. The museum explores a diverse range of artistic, applied and cultural photographic forms. Dialogue and the exchange of ideas are of key importance here. Fotomuseum Winterthur advocates a use of the medium that is considered, autonomous and creative. The museum’s collection (which dates back to 1960) has helped to shape the history, narratives and understanding of photography as a multifaceted medium. 

Fotomuseum Winterthur was founded in 1993. In 2002, it joined forces with Fotostiftung Schweiz to create the Centre for Photography – Switzerland’s leading specialist institution for photography. 

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