PHotoEspaña 2011
International Festival of Photography and Visual Arts
1 June– 24 July 2011
The fourteenth annual PHotoEspaña Festival of Photography and Visual Arts will be held in Madrid starting on June 1 through July 24, 2011. In addition to the Spanish capital, there will be other locations hosting Festival exhibitions and activities in Lisbon, Cuenca, and Alcalá de Henares.
PHotoEspaña 2011 presents a program of 66 photography expositions in 57 different spaces (including museums, galleries, arts centers, and exhibition halls) in which 370 artists and creators of some 55 nationalities will be participating.
The Official Selection of PHotoEspaña 2011 is dedicated to the theme “Interfaces: Portraiture and Communication,” chosen by lead curator Gerardo Mosquera. The thematic section of the festival will deal with the portrait—one of the most diverse and important genres in photography—treating it in the context of communication and interaction. One topic of exploration will be the face as a zone of interaction, exploring the limits and tensions stemming from this communication. With its obvious emphasis on photography, the curated portion will nonetheless not be limited to this concern alone; rather it will also open onto different media and will take up in its program new tendencies that seek to expand the exposition as a more experimental space, open to changing events, processes, and experiences. This will include interactive projects, which extend beyond the exhibition halls and into the community and onto the internet.
Along these lines, PHotoEspaña 2011 has commissioned expositions of artists such as Thomas Ruff, Cindy Sherman, Alfredo Jaar, Ron Galella, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Shilpa Gupta, Mona Hatoum, Dayanita Singh, Adrian Paci, Péter Forgács, Lucas Sâmaras, and Kan Xuan, among many others. The exposition programming of the Festival is complemented by Special Projects and Other Halls which will feature important work beyond the parameters of the main thematic program, as will the Off Festival, which brings together some of the most important art galleries in Madrid that join PHotoEspaña with photography projects organized specially for the occasion.
PHotoEspaña pays particular attention to the promotion of photography and the visual arts; toward that end, it organizes over 60 related activities: photography workshops, portfolio showings, debates, master classes, guided tours, educational programs, family and intergenerational workshops, projections and street activities. The festival also promotes public participation with activities outside of the exhibition halls, taking to the Internet as a vital space through which to hold various contests and online expositions.
PHotoEspaña relies each year on the involvement and support of public and private institutions. In addition to support provided by the Ministry of Culture, the Community of Madrid, and the Municipality of Madrid is the collaboration of over 60 foundations, businesses, embassies, cultural centers, and museums.
PHotoEspaña 2011
International Festival of Photography and Visual Arts
1 June–24 July
C/ Alameda 9
28014 Madrid
T. +34 91 298 55 23
info [at] phe.es
