Louise Fedotov-Clements is the Artistic Director of QUAD, a centre for contemporary art, film and new technologies in Derby UK, since 2001, and the Director of FORMAT International Photography Festival (Derby, United Kingdom), which she founded in 2004. Additionally, as an independent curator since 1998, she has initiated commissions, publications, mass participation, and exhibitions of art, film, and photography. She is a regular juror, portfolio reviewer, workshop leader, speaker, and award nominator throughout Europe, America and Asia.
This year, FORMAT International Photography Festival launched a major new partnership with Lishui International Photography Festival in China, which allowed Louise Fedotov-Clements to curate “Sleight of Hand”. This exhibition presented work by six artists – Brian Griffin; Regine Petersen; John Angerson; Yvette Monahan and Jan Stradtmann, plus Max Pinckers (curated by Tim Clark), at Lishui Art Museum. Each of the projects examined belief, control and misdirection through photography by unravelling our understanding of history, landscape and documentary. On that occasion, we asked Louise Fedotov-Clements a few questions to know more about this special event.
This year Format Festival joined forces with Lishui International Photography Festival in China. Tell us more about this collaboration.
We are very proud to be working closely with the Director and Team at Lishui Photography festival to offer awards to photographers in China and worldwide through our festival programmes, but also to present an exhibition from FORMAT at Lishui Art Museum this year. Our great colleague Mr Baoguo a writer and curator from Chinese Photography Magazine has been a fantastic collaborator for several years now and has facilitated our partnership with Lishui. As a result, an artist from our programme this year was awarded the first FORMAT/Lishui Photo Exhibition Prize, which was given to Jan Stradtmann for his series Third Nature. This work is integrated into a wider exhibition that I have curated featuring 6 artists all of whom have featured at FORMAT over recent years, focused on the themes of misdirection, history and layered documentary, in essence storytelling through a variety of installations using photography.
You have previously worked with several photography festivals in China, such as Dali Photography Festival and Photo Beijing. How beneficial are these platforms for Chinese photographers?
I have been working in China since 2008 and I am always very impressed with the range of opportunities that are available for artists and photographers though the festivals in China. Certainly, the number of photography festivals is on the rise and the amount of international collaboration is developing. We hear much more about events in China today than in the past and there is very positive exchange between our networks which offers many opportunities for photographers to learn from each other, meet professionals, develop their careers, encounter new skills, have feedback about their ideas, gain international recognition, visibility and to broaden their reach in terms of diversifying their practice. I am very fond of the festivals in Dali and Beijing, having worked with them directly, but also because of the quality of the programmes, incredible locations and venues and the number of incredibly talented photographers and curators that I have been able to meet through attending the events.
How would you describe the current photographic landscape in China?
This is a big question to answer in a short way, but I would say in summary that there is an enormous amount of work being created which deserves to be seen more widely. The ecology of contemporary and documentary photography is different in China and some very unique work is being produced. As in every country around the world artists are influenced by market trends, fashion zeitgeist, ambitions, but what is clear in the exhibitions presented in the festivals in China is that there are thousands of individuals with their own voice making unique work. I am very much looking forward to visiting the 837 exhibitions and select an artist or exhibition for our next award.
It seems photographs from China have been gaining momentum due to the recent growing interest amongst the international community. For instance, Rencontres d'Arles in Southern France is now offering each year a special focus on one young Chinese author thanks to the Discovery Award; RongRong & Inri received the Outstanding Contribution by the World Photography Organization; the BBC reported on Luo Yang, etc. What are your thoughts on this?
To me it seems like a natural progression, there has been so much excellent activity happening across China and many Chinese organisations are great partners. It may take several years for collaborations between established organisations and individuals to come into fruition to build relationships and test ideas, but the time is upon us where these programmes are coming to the forefront in the media and internationally.
We are seeing more Chinese nominees and winners in international competitions, such as Bao Yongqing who was selected Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2019 and exhibited at London's Natural History Museum until 31 May 2020. Which photo prizes and contests would you suggest Chinese photographers to apply for?
World photography Organisation has a range of opportunities, also LensCulture, PHMuseum and FORMAT. There are hundreds of festivals all over the world, I would recommend looking at what their Open Calls offer applicants. Is it just online recognition, how much do they charge, if selected for an exhibition what does the event offer the selected artists? It can be a minefield, but by selecting the right opportunity an artist can gain substantial visibility and have their work seen by jury members who often save the names of applicants they want to follow with future opportunities in mind.
What’s next for you?
A huge amount as usual, I am responsible for planning our programmes several years in advance as well as delivering various projects in the immediate future alongside leading our organisations and teams. For example we have a season of commissions, residencies and exhibitions focussed on Africa based photographers throughout 2020, a major international portfolio review event in April 2020 during the FORMAT OffYear, a visit in November this year to Lisbon to join the jury to select an exhibition from the Parallel international curator/artist mentoring programme, ongoing artists exchanges with China and much more. Also I try to make time for my family over the festive season with a few days in the countryside to recharge, away from my computer. It has been an incredibly busy year!
More information: Format Festival Sleight of Hand, special exhibition at Lishui Museum (China)8 November - 12 November 2019formatfestival.comlishuiphoto.org