Fotofestiwal – International Festival of Photography in Łódź 9-26.06.2022, Łódź, www.fotofestiwal.com

"When we started our work on the Fotofestiwal program, the word COMMUNITY – chosen as the main theme of this edition – had a different emotional load than today. After Russia’s unjustified and criminal attack on Ukraine, after millions of Ukrainians have been forced to search for a temporary home, we all see values such as unity and solidarity differently. Today, when the slogan "European community" is repeated in the media in every other sentence, and hundreds of people come up together with grassroots initiatives to help those fleeing the war, we want to believe that it is the "community" that will allow us to survive this crisis," say Franek Ammer, Krzysztof Candrowicz and Marta Szymańska from the Fotofestiwal’s curatorial collective.

From "Lamkist" (2021) by Elena Subach (UA) from the exhibition "Foreboding Landscape" (Odesa Photo Days)

The program has been updated to take into account the contemporary situation. Fotofestiwal - out of the need for solidarity and cooperation - has invited two other festivals to Łódź: the Month of Photography in Minsk and the Odesa Photo Days which could not be held this year due to oppression in Belarus and war in Ukraine. Both will present a part of their program in Łódź. The eighth edition of the Odesa Photo Days Festival was scheduled to take place in Odesa on 19-22 May 2022. On February 24, 2022, Russia started a full-scale war against Ukraine. Now Kateryna Radchenko, director and curator of Odesa Photo Days, and the festival team are working to spread the word about the situation in Ukraine and support Ukrainian documentary photographers and photography-based artists affected by war.

Karolina Gembara (PL) for APP (The Archive of Public Protest) from the "Migration" exhibition

At the same time, the core of the program does not change and remains built around the slogan which has become more important in such an unexpected way. The idea of "community" is a point of reference for curators, artists, activists, and institutions invited to create the program of this year's Fotofestiwal. Exhibitions can be seen in festival centers: Art_Inkubator, the Book Art Museum, in the post-industrial OFF Piotrkowska centre, Motyl UŁ – former university building, as well as in several public galleries participating in the City Program.

From "Shifters" (2021) by Marta Bogdanska (PL)

Among many others, the audience will be invited to get to know the female perspective in Polish photography of the 1970s, 80s and 90s at the exhibition "The Only Ones. Untold Stories of Polish Female Photographers" at the Museum of the City of Łódź.

From "Calm Waters" by Andriy Lomakin (UA) Odesa Photo Days

An extended concept of a community based on the relationships of people, other animals, plants, fungi and microorganisms will be proposed by the artists participating in the group exhibition "COEXIST: Liberty_Equality_Biodiversity!" Francesca Todde will tell us about interspecies cooperation using the example of Tristan's activities. This bird educator develops a proprietary way of communicating with animals based on how their senses work and what their sensitivity reacts to – such as the intensity of the gaze or even the intention behind Tristan's every move. The projects by Daniel Szalai and Marta Bogdańska will draw our attention to harnessing animal abilities for strictly human purposes: breeding of genetically engineered chickens for the production of vaccines, or participation of spy squirrels, photographer pigeons and nuclear lizards in armed conflicts and other military activities.

From "Ministry of the Environment overgrown by Central European mixed forest" (2017) by Diana Lelonek (1988, PL) from the exhibition COEXIST: Liberty_Equality_Biodiversity!

From "At the Origins" (2020) by Xenia Petrovska (UA)

These are only some of the projects referring to the topic of community. The artists invited to the exhibition titled "The Joyful Death of Images" will invite us to look at the phenomenon of temporary communities built around the process of creating and experiencing images. Another exhibition is devoted to projects created with and for migrants, and the artists participating in it (Archive of Public Protests, Karolina Gembara, Yulia Krivich, Marta Romakiv and Pamela Bożek) argue that artistic activities have a real power to influence the lives of individuals.

The Open Program will present the most interesting photo projects, selected from among almost a thousand entries submitted for this year's competition by artists from 40 countries.

From "Hayal & Hakikat: A Handbook of Forgiveness & A Handbook of Punishment" (2020) by Cemre Yeşil Gönenli (TR)

There will also be other topics to reflect upon, for instance two difficult stories of two countries. Santanu Dey's work will bring to us closer the Marichjhapi island massacre in India. Turkish artist Cemre Yeşil Gönenli, in her award-winning project "Hayal & Hakikat: A Handbook of Forgiveness and A Handbook of Punishment", recalls archival photographs of prisoners' hands, on the basis of which Abdul Hamid II, the 34th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, is believed to have decided who was guilty of the crime as accused. Mateusz Kowalik, on the other hand, in his poetic series of black and white photographs, looks at the need to escape to nature.

The organizers themselves have been operating in a democratic, horizontal structure for a few years now, and with this year's program they want to express their strong belief that it is the communities that will save us from the anachronistic, patriarchal model of the world. That is why, for the twenty-first time, they invite people to an event that is intended to be a place for meetings, dialogue and new, inspiriting experiences.

From "The Nature of Things" (2018-ongoing) by Balazs Turós (1990, HU) (Open Program)

Organisers: Fundacja Edukacji Wizualnej (Foundation for Visual Education) Co-organisers: Łódzkie Centrum Wydarzeń (Łódź Event Center), Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Fabryka Sztuki (Art Factory) in Łódź, Festival Centers: Art_Inkubator, OFF Piotrkowska, The main partners of the festival: University of Łódź, Film School in Łódź, Strzemiński Academy of Art in Łódź, the Month of Photography in Minsk, the Odessa Photo Days Translation partner: Translateria Festival sponsor: Rossmann

"In Ukraine" (2022) by Yulia Krivich from the exhibition Solidarnosc, protest, troska