Tonight, 19th April 2018 at 20h, opening of photography exhibition “At 3 AM” by Ivan Blazhev, TransformArt Gallery, Svetog Save 8

Ivan Blazhev was born in 1974 in Skopje, Macedonia. He has graduated from Brooklyn College (NYC, USA) with BA in Filmmaking and holds an MFA degree in Photography from the Academy of Arts of Novi Sad (Serbia). Works as a photographer, filmmaker and educator. He has exhibited his work at national and international museum and gallery venues. In 2008 his project Macedonia Dreaming was part of Beyond Walls – Eastern Europe after 1989 program at the Noorderlicht Photo Festival in the Netherlands. In 2011 he was featured in the exhibition Fragments: Macedonian art scene 1991 – 2011 at the Museum of Contemporary Art – Skopje. Blazhev has published five photographic books.

At 3 am

“…and in a real dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock in the morning, day after day. At that hour the tendency is to refuse to face things as long as possible by retiring into an infantile dream – but one is continually startled out of this by various contacts with the world.” – writes F. Scott Fitzgerald in his book “The Crack-up”. Borrowing its title and theme from this reference, the project “At 3 a.m.” refers to this particular time of the day not as an indication of the time when the photographs of Skopje may have been taken. This temporal reference is more so, a parameter of the spiritual state and time we live in.

Under the auspices of “SK-2014” a curious proliferation of statues, monuments and neo-classical and baroque architecture have been popping up across the Macedonian capital during the last few years. As a result of this still ongoing project, Macedonia’s capital Skopje has been built, torn apart, rebuilt, covered and masked, undergoing a facelift beyond recognition. But the facelift goes much deeper under the surface. SK-2014 is a revisionist project which has been rewriting the history of the city and it has been redefining the identity. Much debated and with strong international and local opposition, the project has been under the scrutiny of the public, but nevertheless the government continued with the project, deeply carving through the Skopje urban landscape.

“At 3 a.m.” is a personal photographic narrative of confrontation, transformation and intimate battle, documenting the trauma from the abrupt changes to the face of the city. Photographing the changing urban landscape, as well as the human landscape within it, is an effort to make sense of the new reality, of coming to terms with the city. It is a way of exploring Skopje, finding a way through the new landscape and trying to understand its new face, its new skin and what is under it. It is not a project about documenting the change, but rather it is a project about the psychological impact of the change and a search for a sense of identity and community within the new landscape. The project represents photographer’s personal gaze into memories, changes and socio-political impact on the individual and the community.

Tonight, 19th April 2018 at 19h, opening of photography exhibition “Lalibela – A Journey to the Jerusalem of Africa” by Gali Tibon, The Museum of African Art, Andre Nikolića 14

Ethiopia is one of the oldest Christian countries in the world, where Christianity was officially recognised as a religion in the 4th century. Today, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church gathers over 40 million believers.

The Christian tradition is inextricably linked with this country’s culture and history. The holiest city and the most significant centre of pilgrimage is Lalibela, a little town situated in the northern mountainous area of Lasta, visited every year by large numbers of local believers, but increasingly also by foreign visitors.

Eleven monolithic churches, assumed to have been built during the reign of King Lalibela (12-13th century), were carved out of a soft red volcanic rock, below ground level, and connected through a network of tunnels and subterranean passages. Their construction represents an extraordinary architectural achievement, and since 1978, the churches have been under the protection of UNESCO. The spatial layout of the churches, which are grouped into two clusters, and the very name of the river Yordanos that divides them, are reminiscent of Jerusalem, imbuing the entire setting with an almost biblical aura. Since the 12th century when the churches were erected, religious services have been held without interruption.

GALI Tibbon photographer is an award-winning photographer based in Jerusalem. In 2013 she was named Travel Photographer of the Year at the Sony World Photography Awards (WPO) in London for her documentary work on Lalibela, Ethiopia. Among her many awards are: the Moscow International Photo Award, Fotoweek DC, she is a two-time winner of the UNESCO Humanity Photo Award, and a National Geographic photo contest finalist (etc.). Her work explores the theme of religion, focusing on faith, capturing the spiritual and abstract emotions of the believers into her stills as she travels around the globe. Tibbon’s images are published regularly in renowned magazines and newspapers worldwide (Geo, National Geographic, Newsweek, Elle, Time, etc.). Her pictures are exhibited in museums, galleries and prestigious international photo festivals.

The exhibition is the result of the cooperation between the Museum of African Art, Belgrade Fortress and Belgrade Photo Month.

Tonight, 18th April 2018 at 19h, opening of photography exhibition “Karaburma, my ghetto” by Igor Čoko, Galerija Eurocentar, Makedonska 30

Many things doesn’t looks like we want to see them. Or it doesn’t suit us to present them the way they really are. Sometimes raw, sometimes brutal, quite on the edge. But so outgiving, truth and full of life. Welcome to Karaburma. My ghetto. A place of restless spirit and very kind people. A place of vivid extremes, which street and social aesthetic I was documenting during past five years. Welcome to my personal Bronx.

Igor Čoko

Tonight, 17th April 2018 at 19h, opening of Miodrag Bazdar instant photography exhibition “My Paris in Polaroids”, gallery Бартcелона, Belgrade Design District

Exhibition “My Paris in Polaroids” is a collection of Polaroid instant photographs of Paris, “city of light”. During the exhibition there will be organized workshops supported by Polaroid Originals company.

Today, 17th April 2018 at 18h, opening of “Slavic Traditions” photography exhibition of Russian photographer Ilmara, Ruski dom, Kraljice Natalije 33

The Serbia’s CraftBeat project aimed at promoting Serbian culture in the world presents the exhibition of Russian photographer Ilmar “Slavic Traditions”.

The exhibition is dedicated to traditional crafts of Serbia, places where the crafts are developed and to people who preserve the traditions of their ancestors. The project is supported by the National Tourism Organisation of Serbia and Ethnographic Museum of Belgrade.

The project “Serbia’s CraftBeat” made by photographer Ilmar and journalist Victoria Martynova draws a new map of this Balkan country. Try Serbia, taste Serbia, buy the most original souvenirs – and you will definitely fall in love. You just need to pull off the beaten path, well-known by all tourists and go the hidden places where sweaters are being knitted, pies are being baked and pottery is being fired exactly as it had been doing centuries ago. Being jealous of traditions, Ilmar shoots all the photographs on film only, and Victoria does interviews with local residents to give you personal experience and impression, to make this map truly lively and interactive.

The project consists of series of publications describing different Serbian towns and crafts.

Victoria Martynova:
Journalist Victoria Martynova writes for Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health, FHM and other established magazines, works with numerous TV channels. She has a Master’s degree in International relations and has been studying the cultural and geographical characteristics of Serbia for over 15 years. She’s the creator of the Faces of Belgrade project, and has written the majority of the texts on the project’s site. On a daily basis, several thousand people read her blogs about life in the Balkans on social media and on various websites.

Today, 17th April 2018 at 11h, opening of “New Talents” competition exhibition of winning photographers from the past three years, EU info centre, Kralja Milana 7

Photo contest and international competition for young photographers, “New Talents”, has been organised three years in a row as part of the international photo festival “Belgrade Photo Month”.

The main objective of the competition is to support and promote the work of young artists and photographers, thus enabling their future cooperation with local and national institutions, as well as with European and world photo festivals.

Belgrade Photo Month Festival, in cooperation with the EU Info Centre, recognised the value in providing support to young authors as a certain form of cultural heritage, and is thus clearing a path for them to represent their work on the international photography stage.

The work of winning photographers from the past three years of the festival’s “New Talents” competition will be shown at an exhibition in the EU Info Centre, taking place on 17th April, at 11am.

2016:
Allison Morris
Jakub Ochnio
Teodora Ivkov

2018:
Adam Żądło
Miljan Vuletić
Nanna Heitmann

euinfo.rs • europa.rs
#EuropeForCulture • #EvropaZaKulturu
Event financially supported by the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia and EU info centre

Tonight, 16th April 2018 at 19h, opening of photography exhibition “Landnemar” by Álvaro Sánchez-Montañés, Dom Omladine Beograda, Makedonska 22

Born in Madrid in 1973, where he completed his studies.
Had his work exhibited in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Bilbao, London, Mexico City, New York…
Recipient of significant awards for his photography, such as Epson Photography Award 2009, International Photo Award 2009, Descubrimientos PhotoEspaña 2010, Fundación AENA 2012, the highest place for photography award Fundació Vila Casas 2018.
His works have been included in numerous publications and are part of many private collections.
He is living and working in Barcelona.

As if you were asleep… And dreaming a single dream…
Always the same one… For years.
One island, new experience, familiar feeling…
It is a far-away place.
It looks ideal as a place to run away from everything, to disappear.
And then to find yourself again.

It stealthily creeps under your skin and becomes the life you start loving.

Landnemar is made of rare settlements, solitary houses, endless deserted roads, lonely shops, signs that lead nowhere…
Aesthetics of the derelict. Minimalistic villages for minimalistic landscapes.

Landnemar is both winter and the heat. The land of ice and of volcanoes, of snow and lava. Infinite plains, frozen landscapes, immense deserts, frozen roads. The nature that is giving, but also taking away; the one that refuses to destroy us.

Landnemar is peace. The sea of silence. The harmony between man and nature. Surrender as the only way to live in harmony with oneself, and with nature.

Landnemar are the first settlers. Rare dwellers. Centuries later, the island without people.

Landnemar is Iceland.

Landnemar is a unique journey of Álvaro Sánchez-Montañés.

Curated by: Ana Šćepanović
Translated by: Mirjana Kosić

Tonight 4th April 2018 at 19h, opening of “(de)construction” exhibition of students of Digital Arts, Faculty of Media and Communication, in gallery “Kvaka 22”, Ruzveltova 39

The exhibition (DE) CONSTRUCTION represents the selected photographic and video works of students from all years from the Faculty of Media and Communication, Department of Digital Arts. Within the problem framework (DE)CONSTRUCTION, they investigate the irregularities of the environment, its binary, inconsistencies, deviations, differences, illogicality, compose and disassemble architecture, relations, language, time, space and the medium of photography. From the existing elements, they construct and deconstruct the system as an endless number of variables, none of which is either right or wrong.

The exhibition is organized by students of FMK Digital Art: Jana Ljubičić, Viktorija Jovanović, Jana Bjelica, Milica Lazarov and Ana Đapić.

The participants of the exhibition are: Aleksandra Nestorov, Aleksandra Pešić, Ana Đapić, Irena Canić, Ivana Miljković, Jana Ljubičić, Jovan Marković, Hana Piščević, Katarina Marković, Kristina Tica, Luka Bezuha, Marko Božić, Marko Granić, Milena Milutinović, Milica Josimović, Milica Milica Lukić, Miodrag Mrkšić, Nikola Hajduković, Nikolina Škundrić, Sofija Ivanović, Stefan Isaković, Tamara Tasić, Viktorija Jovanović.

Visual identity: Jana Bjelica

On Saturday, 14th April 2018 at 19h, photography exhibition “Musical postcard” by Aleksandar Pfićer, Railway Museum in Belgrade, Nemanjina 6

Aleksandar Pfićer, born in 1980. Graduated master of Photography in 2005, at the Academy of Art IVAS Munich, department in Belgrade, in the class of professor Nikola Radošević. He is a member of the Association of Independent Artists and Masters of Photography USUF of Serbia and the Association of Serbian Railways artists from Belgrade. He had 10 solo exhibitions and participated in more than 100 collective exhibitions in the country and abroad. Awarded 7 times. He lives and works in Belgrade.

On Saturday, 14th April 2018 at 19h, photography exhibition “Trains and people” by Katarina Ristić, Railway Museum in Belgrade, Nemanjina 6

Katarina Ristić, photographer amateur, takes part in the Belgrade Photo Month Festival for the third time in a row with a clear desire to make her modest contribution to the development of photography in Serbia and to bring the photo closer to the local population through its popularization and presence. Katarina participated in over a hundred collective exhibitions and this is her fifth solo exhibition of photographs that will try to show her views of people connected with rail and trains…