Mallorca PhotoFest is born: the island claims itself as an epicenter of contemporary photography
The festival, driven by the Art Palma Contemporani association, will fill, until next August, about thirty exhibition points throughout the island
PalmAfter more than two years of work, and more than a decade since the disappearance of Palma Photo, Mallorca PhotoFest has been born, a festival promoted by the association Art Palma Contemporani that will fill, until next August, about thirty exhibition venues throughout the island with contemporary photography proposals. “The long-term objective is to turn it into a benchmark where we can reflect on images, where we can foster critical thinking through photography. 100 years ago it was an unquestionable source of authority and trust, and now it is used to distort reality. We think it is necessary to reflect on this, that images should also serve us to draw conclusions about the world we live in”. This is how Xavier Fiol, director of the festival, defines it, who, together with the general coordinator, Montserrat Torras, and with the advice of Xisco Bonnín and Horacio Fernández, has shaped a program that includes exhibitions, talks, guided tours, a reading club dedicated to photobooks, and a film series that will take place during May at the Teatre Sa Societat in Calvià.
Among the exhibitions that will be inaugurated in the coming weeks within the framework of PhotoFest, in addition to the four included in the project Galàxia Fontcuberta, are the first photographic exhibition hosted by Galeria 6a, La trinchera, by Aitor Lara, the exhibition Miquel Salom i els pioners de la fotografia, which can be seen from April 29 at Can Bordils, and that of Tomeu Coll, Entre flors i fantasmes, which opens on May 21 at Espai Passatemps in Santa Maria. However, some of the exhibition proposals linked to this festival have been viewable for weeks in various centers, such as Horta Picasso - Miró Montroig by Jean Marie del Moral, at Fundació Miró Mallorca, and Holy by Donna Ferrato at Casal Solleric.
The programming will also reach municipalities such as Alaró, Felanitx and Inca, and will bring to the table names such as Martin Parr, Josep Planas i Montanyà and Man Ray, among others. "For me, this festival is the demonstration that, in cultural management, when you add one and one, it is not always two, but rather you multiply the possibilities", shares Fernando Gómez de la Cuesta, general director of Culture and Tourism of Cort, who values the initiative very positively. "I believe it shows a very accurate reading of the moment in which the Balearic Islands, in general, and Mallorca, in particular, find themselves, where the communication between art centers, museums and artistic spaces has generated a network that I believe is very positive for everyone".
