CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES: Looking at the Future of the Planet

The FotoFest 2016 Biennial, the acclaimed 16th International Biennial of Photography and New Media Art in Houston, Texas, closed April 24. The 2016 Biennial exhibition, Changing Circumstances: Looking at the Future of the Planet, is one of the most comprehensive exhibitions to date of environmentally themed photography and photo-related art, featuring 34 leading artists from 10 countries. The FotoFest Biennial is the United States’ largest and longest-running international photography event. With 120 participating exhibitions and associated programs at museums, commercial art galleries, non-profit arts organizations, and corporate spaces across the city, the Biennial drew more than a quarter of a million visitors regionally, nationally, and internationally.

Changing Circumstances, curated by FotoFest Co-Founder Wendy Watriss and Executive Director Steven Evans, with Co-Founder Frederick Baldwin, received critical praise. Artnet News remarked “Juxtaposing scenes of stunning natural beauty with evidence of the destructive effects human activity can have on our world, the works in the biennial remind us of the urgent need to preserve the planet’s natural riches for future generations.” Time Magazine Lightbox affirmed the “artists engage in a conversation about humanity’s relationship to the natural world and the potential for creative action to effect global environmental change.”

FotoFest partnered with several art and environmental organizations to present programs during the six-week biennial. These included artist talks with National Geographic; two Environmental Film Series presented with the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and Marfa Dialogues/Houston, a three-day symposium that considered the scale of climate change from the perspective of artistic practice, public policy, critical theory, and environmental science. Presented with Ballroom Marfa (Marfa, Texas) and the Public Concern Foundation (NY), Marfa Dialogues/Houston took place at the Menil Collection (Houston), the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. FotoFest organized additional Biennial programs, including the International Meeting Place Portfolio Review for artists; the Discoveries of the Meeting Place exhibition; the FotoFest International Fine Print Auction; a Collectors Weekend; artist and curator talks; and tours for adults and students. 

FotoFest worked with the nationally recognized music organization Da Camera to present the world premiere of The Colorado: A Film Oratorio, a live music and film performance exploring water, land and life in the Colorado River Basin. FotoFest also co-commissioned a second musical piece, with contemporary classical music ensemble Musiqa, inspired by the photographs of Canadian artist Edward Burtynsky.

FotoFest and Schilt Publishing, Amsterdam, have published a 256-page full-color book, Changing Circumstances: Looking at the Future of the Planet, featuring work by the 34 Biennial artists, with essays by three experts in art, public health policy, and environmental sciences. The book looks at ways in which artists and scientists are re-visioning humanity’s relationship with the Earth, examining a host of challenges including climate change, water, energy, biodiversity, food production, population, natural resources, waste, and migration during a period referred to as the “Anthropocene.” Changing Circumstances is available in the United States from FotoFest, and at fine bookstores worldwide through Schilt Publishing.

FotoFest’s Literacy Through Photography learning program (LTP) developed a student curriculum exploring the issues of the 2016 Biennial. Distributed free of charge to interested schools, the curriculum, “Changing Circumstances: Through the Lens of the Gulf of Mexico,” addresses three major topics: climate change, the globalization of natural resources, and the effects of new technologies. Over 1,000 Houston-area students engaged with the FotoFest 2016 Biennial through the curriculum, exhibition tours, and artist classroom visits.

Upcoming FotoFest programs
FotoFest continues its full-time arts, exhibition, and learning programs in Houston and internationally beginning in autumn 2016. The FotoFest 2018 Biennial, the Seventeenth International Biennial of Photography and Mixed Media Art, opens in Houston in March 2018. Dates and the theme for the 2018 Biennial will be announced later this year.

For more information on the Changing Circumstances exhibition, book, or other programs, please contact Vinod Hopson, Communications Coordinator, FotoFest: vhopson [​at​] fotofest.org / T +1 713 223 5522 ext 26; or Elisabeth Meddin, Blue Medium Inc.: elisabeth [​at​] bluemedium.com / T +1 212 675 1800