Occupying photography

NOUA is pleased to present the exhibition ‘Occupying photography: To the milky way via the sea’. The exhibition presents ongoing artistic research of the Chilean artist and curator Sergio Valenzuela Escobedo. This is the curator's first exhibition in Norway.

The exhibition 'Occupying photography : To the milky way via the sea' is the second edition of the exhibition  MÄNK’ÁČEN, first presented in the Ecole Nationale Superieure de la Photographie (ENSP, Arles) as the result of his artistic research and PhD. This time, looking North, the exhibition aims to give clues to specific modes of photographic presentation and representation with references to the researcher's interest in the genealogy of the photographic apparatus.

The exhibition at NOUA consists of work in the form of a picture atlas, presented through stations with nearly 100 pictures from books, magazines, newspaper and other daily life sources. The pictures are arranged according to different themes bringing together a unique encounter between photographic collections: anthropological and astronomical photographs in tension with contemporary photographic artworks. Five contemporary artists have been invited to collaborate in the exhibition, and the show presents work of Dafna Talmor (United Kingdom), Catalina De la Cruz (Chile), Nico Krebs & Taiyo Onorato (Switzerland) and Sylvain Couzinet Jacques (France)

When the French astronomer François Arago announced the discovery of photography in France in 1839, it was designed first to look up towards the sky. Science has always been at the service of politics, and scientific voyages have been closely related to the discovery and conquest of territories. What happens once scientists look at the sky, and how have science and photography met in the Arctic? The exhibition at NOUA will propose a new relationship between looking at the stars, the camera, and discovering new cultures.

The exhibition is supported by:
Arts Council Norway, Bodø2024, Nordland County Council, Institut Francais Norvege, ENSP, Palais Books, doubledummy.