Photobook Week Aarhus 2022: Off Balance

Thank you all for joining us in the ninth edition of our festival, which took place from 27–30 October 2022 in Aarhus, Denmark.

This ninth edition of the festival brought the important photobook medium directly into the twisted realities of our current context. Besides the central theme, we also showcased other themes such as Books on Books on Books, which have shaped an often-critiqued canon of publications. Our regional focus was on Canada, as a Nordic country, with guest curator Louis Perreault, and a special focus on the books and films of Edward Burtynsky, who has been working on environmental issues for more than three decades. Another expedition on the geographical axis took us to the South-West Pacific.

This year we also presented a special third regional focus with an exhibition about photobooks from Ukraine curated by Kateryna Radchenko, to highlight the country’s art and culture. This provided insight into a country that is currently at the centre of global politics, but which has not been widely explored or discussed in these terms.

Off Balance was an attempt to cope with the imbalance of our contemporary condition. Climate change pressuring a possible catastrophe for humanity, the unsustainable gap between rich and poor, plastic pollution and the drastic decrease of biodiversity, and the first pandemic in over a century. These are examples of a world with complicated issues that need to be addressed but are constantly confronted with political divisions and economic interests.

A special highlight of the festival was the showcasing of the NO!art Movement, and its three founding members, Boris Lurie,  Sam Goodman and Stanley Fisher. With the generous support of the Boris Lurie Art Foundation, we show key works from these three artists, as well as the legendary NO BOX, a multiple by the German Edition Hundertmark, published in 1996. This exhibition at our satellite venue, the HEART Museum will be on show until November 30 and will be accompanied by a catalog, with unpublished manifestos and texts from the early times of the NO!art Movement.

Photobook Week Aarhus 2022 was an open and inclusive event that underlines the urgency for action, and the roles that art might play in the process of acceptance, grief, and collaborative action in the most important issues of our time.

Photobook Week Aarhus is a collaborative effort by Galleri Image and the Aarhus School of Architecture, with support from the City of Aarhus, the Boris Lurie Art Foundation, the Dreyers Fond, and Nordea Fonden, as well as our exhibition and communication partners.

A big Thank you to Fur Bryghus and Sjask for sponsering drinks.

Photos by Moritz Neumüller, Thomas Wiegand, Beate Cegielska, Masato Ushimaro, Hanna Hrynkevich, Mikkel Friis and Salih Basheer.