Last weekend was held the sixth international photography showcase of Unseen taking place in Amsterdam (22-24 September 2017). This year, Unseen presented the first campaign image, created by the Dutch multi-media artist Melanie Bonajo (1978, Heerlen, The Netherlands). Melanie Bonajo created a series of photographic works that were the face of Unseen Amsterdam 2017. In her campaign series, Melanie Bonajo explores the relationship that future generations will have with nature. She questions whether our children will stand up against the power structures that are currently in place and will turn back to nature and the enchantment of the natural world. The series investigates whether a new time will come in which the next generation might find themselves increasingly dehumanised or whether they are secretly creating a new mystical world. Melanie Bonajo said: “Through this photo series commissioned by Unseen, I am giving a voice to the children and focussing on ethics based on a world in between worlds, the long-forgotten power of myths and fairy tale stories. The world of the child who still carries a vision or belief in magic, which was once so near to us all. Together with the children I am exploring how we can pull the mystical spells of the plants into our living rooms in order for us to connect with these irrational shadows. In this series, you can follow the elves at work.”
For this year’s edition, Unseen Amsterdam also introduced a new, dynamic and interactive element to its platform; CO-OP, a space exclusively dedicated to the work of cutting edge, artist collectives from all over the world. CO-OP took place inside the Transformatorhuis at the Westergasfabriek, which was remodelled in a lively and inspiring social hub to explore pioneering works of art and new commercial formats. The thirteen international collectives were selected by Unseen and Lars Willumeit, the curator of the first edition of CO-OP. Lars Willumeit said: “I am beyond happy about being offered the opportunity to co-conceive, co-enable and co-create CO-OP as a lively and exciting social hub, and exploring current collective artistic practices as part of this temporary meta-collective that will be launched at Unseen. CO-OP wants to foster and build forums of social encounter about contemporary image practices, as proposed by each of the thirteen participating initiatives. Additionally, we hope to contribute towards their sustainability.”
Unseen is very much about new photography, which is emphasised by the numerous Unseen Premieres that are shown every year at the fair. Premieres are photographic works that have never been physically shown at any gallery, institute or fair. At its sixth edition, Unseen Amsterdam presented Premieres by Miles Aldridge (United Kingdom), Nadav Kander (Israel), Douglas Mandry (Switzerland), Ruth van Beek (Netherlands), Tom Callemin (Belgium) amongst others. This year, Unseen Amsterdam also invited over fifty galleries from all over the world to present new work at the fair.
Complementing the fair, on-site at the historic Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam, was a three-day speakers programme featuring lectures and debates at the Unseen Living Room, as well as a celebration of the printed world of photobooks at the Unseen Book Market. Other key elements of the programme included a major exhibition and of course, the ING Unseen Talent Award, an exclusive photography award created by ING and Unseen, focused on new photography talent. Five artists were selected for the ING Unseen Talent Award 2017: Tom Callemin (b. 1991, Belgium), Andrea Grützner (b. 1984, Germany), Alexandra Lethbridge (b. 1987, United Kingdom), Robin Lopvet (b. 1990, France) and Stefanie Moshammer (b. 1988, Austria). The finalists were rewarded with an extensive Talent Programme, led by the British artist Nadav Kander. Under his supervision, the selected artists created a final work related to this year’s theme Common Ground; encouraging the discovery of similarities amongst differences. The photographic work of the finalists was on display during this year’s edition at the ING Unseen Lounge. This year’s winner, Andrea Grützner, was announced on September 21, and received 10 000€ to fund a new project.
Unseen Amsterdam
September 22-24, 2017
Westergasfabriek
Pazzanistraat 33
1014 DB Amsterdam
Netherlands
The portfolio above is comprised of works by all finalists of the ING Unseen Talent Award 2017.
