WOMEN, PHOTOGRAPHY, CONFLICT

Fast Forward: Women in Photography – Conference 4

16-17 November 2023

Nikola Tesla Technical Museum, Zagreb, Croatia

The conference, which originally was planned to take place in Tbilisi (Georgia), took place in Zagreb (Croatia) at Nikola Tesla Technical Museum in partnership with the Institute of Art History and Art Pavilion.

The other partners for the 4th edition of Fast Forward conference are Tbilisi Photo Festival, University for the Creative Arts (UCA) and London College of Communication (LCC) at University of the Arts London (UAL). This international conference was aligned with an exhibition at Art Pavilion, curated by Sandra Križić Roban, that explored the histories of the practices of female photographers in the region. The conference was supported by University for the Creative Arts. 

The theme for the 4th conference, to be held in Zagreb, Croatia and co convened by Professor Anna Fox (UCA) and Maria Kapajeva (UCA, EKA), Professor Val Williams (LCC/UAL), Nestan Nijaradze (Tbilisi Photo Festival) and Dr. Sandra Križić Roban (Institute of Art History) is “Women, Photography, Conflict”. The conference will explore the ways that women photographers have worked in countries affected by conflict and will generate new knowledge within this under researched area.

As the violation of women’s rights is one of the prominent aspects dominating conflict zones, this theme resonates with many realities encountered by women across the region, including South Causasian and Balkan countries. Over the years women photographers have been active in documenting violations of human rights, have advocated for women and initiated real changes in conflict or post conflict territories. Yet, within the contemporary historiography of photography, their contributions are frequently omitted. Discussion of conflict photography almost always revolves around high action war photography and is heavily dominated by a traditional male perspective.

The 4th conference will explore various questions including

>> How do women photographers (re)shape our understanding of conflict?

>> To what extent does gender influence photography practice which deals with conflict and its aftermath?

>> How can we adjust photographic history, to encompass non-Western work by women photographers?

>> In which ways have women’s photographic documentation of human rights violations contributed to social justice?

Key notes: Jananne Al-Ani (UK) and Susan Meiselas (USA)

Speakers: Kateryna Radchenko (Ukraine), Una Popović (Serbia), Nina Berman (USA),  Leonida Kovač (Croatia), Chantal Edie Ntube (Cameroon), Melanie Friend (UK), Dana Ariel (UK), Leslie Hakim-Dowek (UK), Judy Rabinowitz Price (UK), Sini Kaipainen (Finland),  Erica Payet (France/UK),  Jenny Matthews (UK), Sandra Vitaljić (Croatia / Sweden), Rosângela Rennó (Brazil), Linda Bertelli & Agnese Ghezzi  (Italy), Sandra Križić Roban (Croatia), Nestan Nijaradze (Georgia), Pippa Oldfield (UK).

The screening programme included the works by Jananne Al-Ani, Judy Rabinowitz Price, Larissa Sansour and Susan Meiselas.