KONZEPT

International Foto-Fest Kaiserslautern 15.-18. September 2022

Identities

In September 2022, a significant photo festival will take place in Kaiserslautern, Germany, for the first time. The focus will be on strong international visual concepts of contemporary art.

The project is a cooperation between the Kulturzentrum Kammgarn, the City of Kaiserslautern and the local photography scene. The festival will take place on three levels: a selection of internationally known artists, as well as regionally established photography positions, and last but not least, works by up-and-coming local artists. A particular focus will be on Eastern Europe by showing photographs from the Czech National Museum of Photography. The Erich Salomon Prize winner of the German Society for Photography, Hans-Jürgen Burkard, will show works from Russia. The selection of the festival contributions meets the highest quality standards and is guaranteed by the curatorial team of the two Kaiserslautern photography artists, Thomas Brenner (DFA) and Jörg Heieck (DGPh).

The title "Identities" leaves room for an intensive exploration of major topics of our time: starting with globalization and the resulting loss of regional identities, to personal identity in gender politics, migration, or the current social upheavals. For Kaiserslautern, as a former industrial city, the question of identity is highly urgent. What was once clearly a workers' and soccer city is now in the midst of change, focusing on the central question: Where should it go? The international Foto Fest 2022 points the way to the future for developments in the art of photography for Kaiserslautern and the region. The festival headquarters with workshops and portfolio reviews are to take place on the grounds of the Kammgarn, accompanied by exhibitions, panel discussions, and image lectures, both indoors and outdoors.

Along the hidden course of the Lauter River, a Photo Walk will incorporate exhibition venues such as the Stadtmuseum, the Fruchthalle, the Museum Pfalzgalerie, and the Pfalztheater with high-quality image shows. Outdoor exhibitions, an open-air cinema, nightly large-scale projections, and accompanying concerts round off the program. Off-locations in trendy venues and empty stores in the city center will be available for the photo scene. They will be supervised by invited curators such as the Egyptian photo artist Hamdy Reda or the photojournalist Isabelle Girard de Soucanton. This unique mélange is intended to establish a lasting rootedness of the festival in the local and national cultural landscape, and a two-year festival period is envisaged.

Jörg Heieck, März 2022