Visual Narratives: European Borderlines
Artists: Andrejs Strokins (LV), Cemil Batur Gökçeer (TR), Ana Catarina Pinho (PT), Hallgerður Halgrimsdóttir (IS), Tiago Casanova (PT), Valdis Thor (IS), André Príncipe (PT), Ilze Vanaga (LV), Heiða Helgadóttir (IS), Sevim Sancaktar (TR), Reinis Hofmanis (LV),
Ahmet Can Boyan (TR)
Design: Serdar Darendeliler and the artists
Number of pages: 192
Print and binding: Ofset Yapımevi, İstanbul
Date of publication: Eylül 2012
'Visual Narratives: European Borderlines' is a catalogue published at the conclusion of the international project of the same name, which focused on discussion, education, and production. It features both the works produced by the participants during the project and interviews they conducted with one another. The catalogue includes a broader and different selection of work than the exhibition version of the project, and its participant pages were designed by the artists themselves.
Bringing together 12 emerging photographers from four countries located on the “edges” of Europe—Latvia, Turkey, Portugal, and Iceland—'Visual Narratives: European Borderlines' was a year-long project centered on discussion and production, facilitating the participants’ work around the theme of “borders.” The project set out to encourage young talents in countries where educational opportunities in photography are relatively limited to develop their practices, while also supporting them through a hoped-for process of personal and critical dialogue among the participants.
Over the course of the year, the 12 participants were mentored by two experienced photographers, George Georgiou and Vanessa Winship. One organization from each country supported the project as a partner: ISSP from Latvia, GAPO from Turkey, Maioclaro from Portugal, and FISL from Iceland all played active roles throughout the process. The production phase of the project began with a workshop held in Latvia in August 2011 and concluded with an evaluation workshop in Turkey in July 2012. During this period, each photographer worked both in their own country and in one of the other participating countries.
The works produced as part of the project were brought together in an exhibition and published in a catalogue. The project outcomes were exhibited in Bursa, Diyarbakır, and Istanbul in Turkey; Braga in Portugal; and Reykjavík in Iceland, and were also presented as projections at numerous festivals.
