Getxophoto Festival 2024

Curated by María Ptqk, in Getxophoto 2024 you will find proposals that, from the field of image and photography, explore games and playing from these points of view and from many others that have not occurred to us.

Overview

There is nothing more serious than playing. During childhood, play is synonymous with freedom, a fantasy world beyond the power of adults where everything is possible and reality is suspended. A world without laws. But it is also by playing that we learn to respect the rules; those imposed from outside because that’s the way you play this game, or those that we invent because you can also play the game this way. We learn the basic rules of coexistence, how to play on a team or play alone, to lose or win, to obey others or negotiate with them. It is the great testing ground in which we rehearse what is to come.

As adults, we resign ourselves to the fact that the game is over. We convince ourselves that we no longer like it, or that we don’t need it. We only accept it covertly in other types of activities, such as some sports, in which we unleash ourselves without restraint, whether playing or watching others; or certain arts, where we allow ourselves brief forays into the fun side of life or beyond reality (and it is no coincidence that some languages preserve the synonymy between playing and acting). We also tolerate microdoses of board games, although always with an excuse (at Christmas or in cases of terrible boredom such as a trip without a phone or something that resembles the end of the world). There are games that survive in youth subcultures, such as role-playing games or cosplay, but, apparently, no one who does not want to see their maturity questioned enters these territories. And of course there are the so-called “games of chance”, although we wonder if they should not simply be called betting. Outside these limits, in the subdued world of adults, playfulness has no right to exist.

The start of the Festival will be celebrated alongside the curator, María Ptqk, and some artists who will come to Getxo to give a visual overview of their works. There will be the participation of Michalina Kacperak, Alejandra Carles-Tolra, Jana Sophia Nolle, Manuela Lorente, Arnau Rovira, Raquel Meyers, 2girls1comp, Jean-Marie Donat and Emanuele Binetti, among others.

The program includes a solo show by Spasi Sohrani, selected by Maria Ptqk, as a winner of the PhMuseum 2024 Photography Grant.

Among the activities are a series of talks titled The Sense Of Editing, New Displays On Exhibitions and What Do We Talk About When We Talk About Digital Curation, that will bring experts such as Emma Bowkett (Financial Times Weekend Magazine), Jason Fulford (J&L Books), Jon Uriarte (Independent -digital- curator), Arianna Rinaldo (PhEST), Vítor Nieves (Premio Galiza de Fotografía Contemporánea/Outono Fotográfico), María Ptqk (Getxophoto), Marco de Muttis (Screen Walks/Fotomuseum Winterthur), Catherine Troiano (Victoria & Albert Museum). In addition, the Hamaiketako talks will take place on Saturday mornings, in the company of local artists and cultural agents with time and space to share. The aim is to foster unhurried conversation, to get to know each other, to exchange concerns, to dare to ask questions… In short, it’s an escape from the traditional “student-teacher” dynamic, offering an opportunity to enjoy a morning with Niko Vázquez and the creators of the podcast El espejo de Vivian y Francesca, Inma Barrio and Leire Etxazarra. 

The performance Precursing by Nina Davies explores the generalized movements of NPCs (Non Playable Characters) that mimic humans in digital environments, more specifically in the universe of video games. Nowadays, most autonomous cars with Artificial Intelligence are trained with video games in which they interact and become accustomed to the movements of these characters. The British artist places us in a near future where humans begin to mimic, through precursing, the behavior of NPCs to avoid being run over. It’s a sort of “meta metarepresentation” of our own movements.

Plus, the self-service oracle is the perfect opportunity to ask the universe for some answers. However, you’ll need to exercise your creativity and imagination, since this predictive oracle is abstract, whimsical, and sometimes will open up more mysteries for you. Photographer and editor Jason Fulford will activate Sol Moon Izar, conceived by him and specially produced for this edition of the Festival, where the public plays together and he will tell them about the peculiarities of the images that are part of the piece.