A Guide to December 2024 Photography Festivals & Exhibitions

Open Veins by Maximiliano Tineo, Sarah Schneider and Stella Meyer at PhMuseum Lab, Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival, PhotoNOLA and Deloitte's Photo Grant at MUDEC are among the photography events to visit next month.

Open Veins by Maximiliano Tineo, Sarah Schneider and Stella Meyer at PhMuseum Lab

Bologna, Italy / 5 December - 23 January

Open Veins delves deep into the still-open wounds of the exploitation of natural resources in Latin America. Maximiliano Tineo’s El Rey Blanco starts from the South American legend of the Sierra de la Plata, a silver mountain believed to be located in the lands of the so-called Rey Blanco. Following the traces of this imaginary place, Tineo encounters two real locations: the silver mine of Cerro Rico de Potosí, Bolivia, and the Lithium Triangle, located between Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia. Sarah Schneider and Stella Meyer's Yo Bebo Leche Y Agua is instead unfolding from a village, Puerto Guadal in Chile, and a law that marked its existence: the Código de Aguas, enacted in 1973 by Pinochet, decreeing water privatization in Chile.

Silver, lithium, and water are the raw materials at the center of these projects, which reflect on broader geopolitical and environmental dynamics, and on how they were influenced by colonial Eurocentric perspectives.

Find out more on PhMuseum Lab's website.

Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival 2024

Xiamen, China / 29 November - 12 January

This year the festival will focus more deeply on integrating with local culture, exploring the connections between photography and the cultural heritage of Xiamen and its surrounding areas. As an international platform for photographic arts, the 10th edition will also connect with local art and culture through the Parallel Exhibitions and Isles Project. The rich program of events includes university lecture tours, the Young Curators' Seminar, portfolio reviews, artist talks, workshops, guided tours, performances, and study trips. Highlights include five exhibitions selected from the Rencontres d'Arles, covering themes such as AI, architectural landscapes, and environmental issues. There will be a focus on works by renowned photographers such as Masahisa Fukase and Luo Bonian. Plus, three exhibitions in the Crossover Photography section will offer diverse perspectives from creators in music, video, and other fields.

More info on their website.

PhotoNOLA 2024

New Orleans, United States / 11 December - 15 December

Produced by the New Orleans Photo Alliance in partnership with museums, galleries, and venues citywide, the 19th edition of PhotoNOLA festival includes in-person reviews, workshops, lectures, exhibitions, and portfolio reviews. Additionally, curated open-air in-person shows are highlighted around the city in partnership with local businesses. Among the events, the PhotoBOOK Fair returns to the historic Patrick F. Taylor Library at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, offering the chance to peruse a beautiful array of contemporary photobooks and zines, and engage with the artists and publishers who created them. 

Explore the full program of exhibitions and events on PhotoNOLA's website.

Deloitte's Photo Grant 2024 at MUDEC

Milan, Italy / 9 November - 15 December

Promoted by Deloitte Italia, under the patronage of Fondazione Deloitte, and in collaboration with 24 ORE Cultura, Deloitte's Photo Grant returns to MUDEC. The exhibition, curated by Denis Curti and the BlackCamera team, features Critical Minerals - Geography Of Energy by Davide Monteleone, and Dust From Home by Fernanda Liberti. Additionally, a preview of Fabiola Ferrero's Reinas will also be presented. After Connections, Deloitte's Photo Grant 2024 explored the theme of Possibilities. This edition invited artists to contemplate the transformative power of individual and collective choices. By highlighting the vast array of potential outcomes, the grant aimed to inspire reflection on how these choices can shape our lives and the world around us.

Discover more on Deloitte's Photo Grant's website.

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Also open this month:

Palonegro by Luis Carlos Tovar at Centre de la photographie Genève / Geneva, Switzerland / 4 September - 15 December

The work explores a precise chapter in the history of violence in Colombia: its ninth civil war, the Thousand Days’ War (1899-1902), of which the bloody Battle of Palonegro (11-25 May 1900) was part. For Palonegro, Luis Carlos Tovar researched and unearthed lesser known archives from a wide range of Swiss and Colombian private and public sources, including those of the Red Cross, the Bibliothèque de Genève and decommissioned military files from the Colombian Ministry of War. Through his work, he aims to revise and resignify these photographic archives, which he considers bodies to be healed. With this approach, he hopes to envisage by extension the possibility of healing individual and collective memory from the traumas and wounds of Colombian history.

HUN by Julia Mejnertsen at Galleri Image / Aarhus, Denmark / 25 October - 19 December

Julia Mejnertsen and curator Sergio Valenzuela-Escobedo have put together an exhibition specifically for Galleri Image, focusing on Mejnertsen’s mother, who is a (big game) hunter. Through her photographic practice, the artist unravels the intricate narratives that once connected our families and studies the profound impact they have on our identity and self-perception. With HUN, the artist invites visitors to reflect on their own experiences and the deep human connections that define us all.

FFoco Festival / A Coruña, Spain / 31 October - 31 December

Projections, exhibitions, presentations, talks, and practical workshops are among the activities included in the program of FFoco, the Galician festival which allows a school of contemporary authors to show their work to new audiences. Among this year's featured artists are Bandia Ribeira, Sebastián Bruno, Amador Iravedra, Mateo Villalustre and Pablo Luaces.

Loss Of Vision by Mykola Ridnyi at Foto Forum / Bolzano, Italy / 19 November - 21 December

Curated by Sabine Gamper, Mykola Ridnyi's exhibition explores how to discuss violence without perpetuating it, by using metaphors of blindness to highlight society’s dehumanization amidst sensational news and challenges of war. Since 2014 the artist has dealt with Russian war against Ukraine, its transformations and its perception in the world on its way from a hybrid conflict to the full-scale invasion.