Photography vs. Contemporary Art
Lecture by Ekaterina Degot
In the context of Shirana Shahbazi – Objects in Mirror Are Closer than They Appear
Free admission
Talk in English language
Ekaterina Degot, Foto: J.J. Kucek
“There is less and less photography (and photographers) in contemporary art exhibitions, but more and more photographs. The photograph is a lens through which we see the contemporary world, which comes to us always already reproduced.“
In her talk, Ekaterina Degot will explore some of the paradoxes inherent in the complex relations between photography and so-called contemporary art – seen through the eyes of a curator, writer, and university professor. She will talk about the complex role and purposes of the photographic image in visual cultures. Considering the differences of social contexts and cultural disciplines, she will develop perspectives for the future of the medium against the backdrop of our fragmented present.
Ekaterina Degot is the Director and Chief Curator of steirischer herbst–interdisciplinary festival for contemporary art in Graz, Austria. In her work, the Russian-born art historian, researcher, and curator focuses on aesthetic and sociopolitical issues in Russia and Eastern Europe from the nineteenth century to the post-Soviet era. From 2014 to 2017, Degot was Artistic Director of the Academy of the Arts of the World in Cologne. Before that she was Senior Curator at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, art columnist for the newspaper Kommersant, and Senior Editor ofopenspace.ru/art. Amongst other shows, she curated the First Ural Industrial Biennial in Yekaterinburg (2010, with Cosmin Costinas and David Riff) and headed the first Bergen Assembly together with David Riff (Monday Begins on Saturday,2013).
Video recording
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