FOTOFEST 2014 BIENNIAL

The Fifteenth International Biennial of Photography and Photo-related Art

March 15 - April 27, 2014, Houston, Texas U.S.A.

THEME AND DATES

The FotoFest 2014 Biennial, the 15th International Biennial of Photography and Photo-related Art, is March 15 - April 27, 2014. FotoFest's own exhibitions for the 2014 Biennial will focus on Contemporary Arab Photographic Art, including video and multi-media installations. The Biennial will showcase more than 40 contemporary Arab artists using photography and related visual media to address a broad range of aesthetic and cultural values impacting Arab culture.

“The FotoFest 2014 Biennial will present a focused selection of the best contemporary photography, video and photo-based installation art being done by Arab artists in the Middle East and North Africa,” says FotoFest Senior Curator and Artistic Director Wendy Watriss. “The Biennial will emphasize ideas and subjects important to contemporary Arab artists working with these media.”

FOTOFEST EXHIBITIONS
March 15 - April 27, 2014

To realize the Biennial’s Arab exhibitions and programs, FotoFest has commissioned one of the world’s leading experts on contemporary Arab art, Karin Adrian von Roques, as the principal curator. Ms. von Roques has worked for over 20 years in the Middle East with exhibitions and publications on contemporary Arab art. She is one of the first curators in Europe to have initiated a series of exhibitions strategically aimed at bringing the work of Arab artists to the attention of a broader, international public.

“The FotoFest 2014 Biennial will be the first presentation of contemporary photo-based and video art from the Arab countries to be done in the United States in recent years,” says Ms. von Roques. “We are looking at the work of the most important artists from several Arab countries.”

The Contemporary Arab Photographic Art exhibitions will be accompanied by the non-thematic, biennial Discoveries of the Meeting Place exhibition of works by 10 artists selected by multiple curators from the FotoFest 2012 portfolio review.

Over 100 museums, art galleries, non-profit art centers and corporate spaces will participate in the FotoFest 2014 Biennial.

In addition, there will be accompanying lectures, forums, special tours and a four-color Biennial catalogue and hardcover book on the Arab exhibitions.

PORTFOLIO REVIEW FOR ARTISTS
The International Meeting Place
March 15 - April 2, 2014

The 2014 edition of FotoFest’s renowned Meeting Place, a 16-day international portfolio review, takes place March 15–April 2, 2014. The purpose of the Meeting Place is to open opportunities for artists to meet and show work to influential curators, publishers, editors and collectors. FotoFest invites 180 of the most important people in the field of photography – to meet with artists on a one-to-one basis and review their work.

FotoFest’s Meeting Place was created in 1986 as an international portfolio review for artists working with photography and photo-related art. The FotoFest portfolio review is a hallmark of the FotoFest Biennial and it continues to be the model for portfolio review programs throughout the world. With over two weeks of portfolio reviews for artists, FotoFest’s program is still the largest and most international portfolio review program in the world.

INTERNATIONAL FINE PRINT AUCTION
Monday, March 24, 2014

FotoFest ’s International Fine Print Auction is scheduled for Monday, March 24, 2014, with special programs for collectors. The International Fine Print Auction, FotoFest's principal fundraiser, takes place every two years as part of the FotoFest Biennial. It is designed to make some of the best national and international contemporary photographic art available to collectors.

The FotoFest Fine Print Auction is considered an exceptional benefit auction for the quality and breadth of its donating artists and their art work. It is one of the main events of the FotoFest Biennial and provides a rare opportunity to collect high quality contemporary fine art photography from Russia, Western Europe, Asia, Latin America, Canada and the United States.

Works featured in the FotoFest Auction are hand-picked by FotoFest’s founders in collaboration with selected artists. Donating artists and galleries donate all revenues from print sales to FotoFest. All the artists have had significant commissions and exhibits sponsored and curated by FotoFest itself or by important art institutions that have participated in FotoFest Biennial programs. The Auction is designed to honor these artists and their works as well as stimulate new interest in art collecting.