A Guide to November 2024 Photography Festivals & Exhibitions

Paris Photo, Polycopies, Offprint, Silent Times at Kunsthal Extra City, Rencontres De Bamako, IUZZA by Francesca Todde at Centre Photographique Rouen Normandie, and Indian Photo Festival are among the photography events to visit next month.

Paris Photo 2024

Paris, France / 7 November - 10 November

Returning to the Grand Palais for its 27th edition, each year Paris Photo brings together the most renowned international galleries and publishers of contemporary and modern photography. Taking place in the Southeast Gallery on the ground floor of the Grand Palais, the launch of the Voices sector sees invited curators Azu Nwagbogu, Sonia Voss, and Elena Navarro proposing contemporary themes to (re)emerge an artistic scene or medium practice. On the other hand, curated by Anna Planas and located on the first-floor walkways, the Emergence sector offers an exploration of the contemporary art scene at its most creative. The 23 solo shows organised by new galleries highlight a diverse range of techniques and themes, taking experimentation with the medium in new directions. The Book Sector brings together specialist publishers and features photobooks, limited editions, printed works, multiples, and artist’s books. Visitors will also have the opportunity to explore books from the past through the projects of Plac’Art Photo and Dirk K. Bakker Boeken. Exclusive launches together with rare and limited editions are accompanied by more than 400 artists’ signings and discussions.

Among the highlights, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Surrealism, Paris Photo invites filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist Jim Jarmusch to curate a personal selection of artworks on show. Events also include the Paris Photo-Aperture PhotoBook Awards ceremony, the Carte Blanche Students exhibition, round tables and talks with artists and experts led by The Eyes, Elles x Paris Photo, and more.

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

Polycopies 2024

Paris, France / 6 November - 10 November

Coinciding with Paris Photo, Polycopies is an annual photobook festival that promotes independent publishing. The event transforms the Concorde-Atlantique boat in the French capital into a large ephemeral bookshop fully dedicated to photography. In 2024, the event will bring over a hundred international publishers and booksellers from more than twenty countries, who will be hosting events, round tables, signings, professional meetings, and portfolio reviews for five days. Visitors are also invited to join the program of round tables and conferences with authors and publishers. Between these, Haruna Sato (Kaido Books), Luca Iovino (Disko Bay), Julia Mejnertsen (Dalpine), Gabriele Chiapparini and Camilla Marrese (Overlapse), Veronica Barbato (Artphilein Editions), Bieke Depoorter (The Book Is True).

Explore the full list of publishers and events, round tables, and book signings on their website.

Offprint Paris 2024

Paris, France / 7 November - 10 November

The 2024 edition of Offprint Paris, held at the Pavillon de l'Arsenal, will feature over a hundred exhibitors specialized in photography and other arts, along with a program of talks, book signings, and meetings throughout the weekend, all with free entry. Supporting qualitative and unique publishing practices specific to the arts since 2015, the fair was designed to showcase an alliance between printed strategies and digital cultures within the art world, presenting concrete examples of the contemporary dissemination of artistic practices. Publishers include Loose Joints, Animal Press, Photobook Cafe, sun/sun éditions, Humboldt Books, Edition Patrick Frey, Fw:Books, GHOST Editions, RVB Books, *Duuu éditions, Building Books, Gato Negro Ediciones, MACK / SPBH Editions, Roma Publications, and more.

Discover the full list of publishers on their website.

Silent Times at Kunsthal Extra City

Antwerp, Belgium / 26 October - 30 March 2025

In a time when freedom of expression feels increasingly fragile, artworks by artists Basir Mahmood, Adam Broomberg and Rafael Gonzalez, Taysir Batniji, and Younes Zarhoni, delve into the weight and psychological impact of silence. Curated by Joachim Naudts, Silent Times deals with the unspoken, with the psychological weight of silence and the burden of not finding the words. Contradictory as it may sound, the exhibition also includes a substantial public program with (lecture) performances, talks, temporary installations and meditation sessions. After all, it’s only in reconnecting with each other, embracing ideas of safe spaces and neighbouring that this silence can be broken. Among the artists and participants contributing to the public program are Sana Ghobbeh, Benjamin Verhoeven and Amine Lahrach, Isshaq Albarbary, and Paloma Bouhana. Installations include Disruptions by Taysir Batniji, co-produced by PhMuseum on the occasion of the 4th edition of PhMuseum Days.

Find out more on Kunsthal Extra City's website.

Indian Photo Festival 2024

Hyderabad, India / 21 November - 5 January 2025

With the 10th edition taking place at the State Gallery of Art, Madhapur, and other venues across Hyderabad, the festival strives to promote the art of photography and, at the same time, address social issues through the medium of photography. This year's edition offers an exciting lineup of events, including talks, exhibitions, portfolio reviews, screenings, book launches, and workshops. Notable highlights include guest speakers like Sabeena Gadihoke, Matt Stuart, and Catrine Val, along with celebrated industry professionals such as Matt Black, who will lead workshops titled Crafting Your Narrative and Street Photography Workshop, and Vineet Vohra who will host a Smartphone Photography workshop.

Discover more on the festival's website.

IUZZA – À propos De Goliarda Sapienza by Francesca Todde at Centre Photographique Rouen Normandie

Rouen, France / 12 October - 25 January 2025

This year marks the hundredth anniversary of the Italian writer Goliarda Sapienza (1924-1996), whose work, long in the shadows, is now recognized as one of the most important in Italian literature, in particular through the posthumous success of her monumental The Art of Joy. Travelling to the places where the novelist lived and accessing her archives, with the help of Angelo Pellegrino, the writer’s companion, Italian photographer Francesca Todde unfurls the panorama of the very personal imagery that Sapienza and Sicily inspired for her. Her photography is poetic rather than illustrative, capturing pictures left on the shores of the work, abruptly cast on volcanic rock or gently laid on the sands of Positano.

Learn more about the exhibition on their website.

Rencontres De Bamako 2024

Bamako, Mali / 16 November - 16 January 2025

Founded in 1994, the Bamako Encounters is the first and largest African Photography Biennial. Now at its 14th editions, it is a place for the revelation of African photographers and those from the diaspora, a time for exchange and sharing with the Malian public and professionals from around the world. This year the festival, themed Kuma, The Word, explores the connection between language and photography, encouraging artists to explore the synergy between words and images, examining moments of expression like eloquence, anger, hope, and silence. The group show La Panafricaine brings together 30 artists such as Victor Adewale, Bernard Akoi-Jackson, Héla Ammar, Nabil Boutros, Cédrick-Isham Calvados, Jeannette Ehlers, Mounir Fatmi, Ismaël Mahamoudou Laouli Illa, Seyba Keita, John Kalapo, M'hammed Kilito.

Discover more on Bamako Encounters' website.

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Also open this month:

Spectacular. An exploration of light by Vera Lutter at MAST / Bologna, Italy / 11 October - 6 January 2025

Curated by Francesco Zanot, the exhibition brings together for the first time in a unified itinerary a selection of Vera Lutter's photographs, taken from the 1990s to today, on the themes of industry, work and infrastructures for the movement of things and people. The works appear spectacular, without any ostentation being intended, but by the fact that they focus on the experience of the public, transporting it into a dimension that transcends the ordinary. In addition, a darkroom has been set up at the top of the entrance ramp to the Photo Galleries at MAST as an atelier space for the public and for educational activities for children in order to illustrate the technique used by the German artist to create her works.

OFF Bratislava 2024 / Bratislava, Slovakia / 8 November - 22 November

Delving into the complexity of veiled identities and hidden characters, the 15th edition of the festival is entitled Persona Incognita. It explores themes of cognition and self-discovery, shedding light on humanity's long-standing desire to hold a mirror to their own egos in order to conceal their true identities. An integral part of the festival this year will be again the OFF Academy section, featuring exhibitions of universities, and other educational institutions, the OFF Libris section, presenting self-published photobooks, and the OFF Satellite section, including exhibitions organized by external galleries. Discussions and international cultural exchanges will be encouraged by individual lectures, workshops, and roundtables.

FotoFestival Manzana 1 / Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia / 20 November - 24 November

Taking place in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the festival is the largest photography event in Bolivia, bringing together photographers and editors from around the world. Focusing on witness documentary and photojournalistic topics, the program consists of evening projections, lectures, artist talks and guided tours of exhibitions. The festival’s educational aspect is bolstered by exclusive workshops, taught by photo experts Monica Allende, Soren Pagter, Marie A. Monteleone, photographer Klavdij Sluban, Esther Horvath, Tomas Munita and Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo.

Singapore International Photography Festival 2024 / Singapore, Singapore / 18 October - 24 November

The SIPF aims to be a much-needed arena for critical thought and academic discussion on photography in Southeast Asia. Through its associate programs, the festival hopes to engage the public and cultivate a larger audience. Events include portfolio reviews with experts such as Adele Tan, Ang Song Nian, Brendan McCleary, Kim Sunyoung, Haeju Kim, Maarten Schilt, Natan Dvir, Serubiri Moses, Seok Jaehyun, Tanvi Mishra and more. In addition, seminars, masterclasses, and workshops will take place during the festival, including the Fabulous Failures with Erik Kessels, The New Forest with Robert Zhao Renhui, and the Photobook Clinic with Cheng Yinhe.