Friday March 14 my wife and business partner Maria Louise and I arrived in Houston for the 2014 FotoFest Biennial. It is always such a pleasure to be back in Houston! We love it here! The city is interesting and thriving, and the people are very kind and open.
We’ll be here for a week. In 4 days we’ll review work from about 70 mostly very talented photographers in the downtown DoubleTree Hotel, FotoFest’s headquarter during the Biennials. Of course we’ll attend the official opening and will see during the week the complete and huge show View From Inside on contemporary Arab photography, which is spread over four different locations: the Spring Street, Winter Street and Silver Street Studios, and Williams Tower. The first three are superbly renovated old industrial buildings located in Houston’s rapidly developing First Ward. Williams Tower is a beautiful 64 stories skyscraper designed by Philip Johnson in collaboration with both New York and Houston architects, and is located uptown. The ground floor of this chic office building is public exhibition space.
The Arab show is amazing. The work of 49 top quality artists from different Arab countries was selected by curator Karin Adrian von Roques, a German leading specialist in Arab art, together with FotoFest’s artistic Director and founder Wendy Watriss and her assistant Jennifer Ward. Congratulations to the whole FotoFest team! They did it again! The shows that are made here during the Biennials are always of unprecedented quality. Everybody interested in visual arts should jump in a plane and rush to Houston, for what can be seen here deep in Texas you won’t find in cultural centres like New York, London or Paris!
Schilt Publishing is very privileged to work closely together with FotoFest. Since 2010 we have co-published the catalogues of the Biennials. Last year we decided together that we would change the way of publishing in the sense that from now on we will produce a wonderful hardcover book on the subject of the Biennial, next to a softcover catalogue. In doing so we create a much better and long term market position for the book. For the content is of such superb quality that it was a pity to put it just in a catalogue. We are very happy we made that decision, and the first signs show that it absolutely was the right decision. The book, called View From Inside – Contemporary Arab Photography, Video and Mixed Media Art will be available worldwide in bookshops and on the Internet as well as via FotoFest and Schilt Publishing directly. Do check it out for you will not be disappointed! Congratulations also to designer Henk van Assen!
Saturday March 15 we started with the reviewings, together with about 40 other experts. In total during the Biennial there will be 4 sessions of 4 days with approximately 160 experts and hundreds of photographers, all coming from all over the world.
Our pick of the first day was Dmitry Gomberg, a fantastic young photographer originally from Russia but now living in New York. We are immediately seriously talking with him about a book and about representing him in our newly erected Schilt Publishing Gallery. The subject is the life of shepherds in Georgia in the Caucasus. Dmitry has been a shepherd there himself. By the way: It came out his aunt is very close to one of the best pianists of the world, Evgeny Kissin. We are going to try to invite Kissin to come and play on the opening of Gomberg’s show and book presentation. First thing we immediately did when we decided to erect Schilt Publishing Gallery was to buy a beautiful Steinway & Sons build in the year 1884, so that we could organize concerts during our openings. Well, if it would work out with Kissin that would be amazing! Apologies for my dreams, but dreams do come through sometimes, so… Anyway, what a way to start the reviews!
That evening was the Grand Opening Night of the Biennial in the Spring Street Studios. A really wonderful evening, especially being surrounded by all this great work. In a huge tent next to the Studios dinner was served for VIPs and reviewers. Such a treat!
Sunday March 16 was the second day of the reviewings. Again we saw very good quality work. Our pick of the day was Shelley Calton, who has made a great project about women wearing guns on their bodies. Also with her we are seriously talking about a book and gallery representation.
In the evening it was time for the Open Portfolio Night. Always nice for you never see all attending photographers so this gives an extra chance for new contacts.
Monday March 17, day 3 of the reviewings. Our pick of the day (and please forgive me for having to choose here all the time; others not mentioned but very good artists, know we will continue talking with them too!): Diana Matar. My goodness did she make a superb work about the disappearance of her Libyan father in law, murdered by the Gaddafi regime. A piece of work that grabs you by the throat, beautiful in its extreme silence. A book! For sure!
In the evening two great events: a visit to the second part of View From Inside in Silver Street Studio and after that to the Menil Collection (a glorious museum located in Montrose, next to the also glorious Rothko Chapel; do go to Houston, it is full of such diamonds!). There was an evening with FotoFest founders Fred Baldwin and Wendy Watriss, telling about their intriguing and exciting lives. These two people are very close to my heart: so smart, wise and funny, what a joy to know them, work with them, being friends with them. They have decided to retreat a bit from the extreme hectic of running FotoFest. A new executive director, Steven Evans, has been appointed to take over many of their tasks; A wise decision. Steven is a fine man with a respectable past in the photography and art world. We are sure we’ll get along well with Steven and will continue to work closely with FotoFest in many years to come.
And one more thing: Schilt Publishing will publish in 2015 the memoirs of Fred Baldwin: Odd Man Out. That will be a thick, interesting and witty book for sure!
Tuesday March 18, day 4 of the reviewings. Our pick of the day was the one we met in the last meeting: young Mexican photographer Pedro Ramirez-Alfaro with his wonderful and grabbing project about a mentally ill and lonely man living in a cave in Mexico City. We decided to look if a publication in our series Grey Matters, meant especially for publishing young talent, will be possible. We think it will!
In the evening part 3 of View From Inside in Williams Tower, and after that visits to the beautiful Sicardi Gallery as well as Deborah Colton Gallery, where amongst others superb work of Arab artist Soody Sharifi is on show.
After that a relaxing dinner just the two of us. We see here so many people in such a short time that now and then you need to retreat a bit!
Maria Louise is, while I am working on this text, attending an interesting workshop: Inside the Collector’s Mind. Our designer Victor Levie, who just arrived to review in the second session, joins her. Later today he will have workshops with photographers about long-term projects. It’s great he is here.
Later today we have more meetings with photographers as well as with Fred, Wendy and Steven about our future cooperation. We are looking forward to that of course.
Tomorrow, Thursday March 20, we will rent a car and go and see the Arab shows again as well as a great show in the wonderful Houston Centre of Photography, located next to the Menil. We will meet also with several people we work with here in Houston and visit the new office of FotoFest.
Friday morning we will have our last meetings with photographers and then it’ll be time to go to the airport and fly back to Amsterdam. We have to for I need to drive immediately to my printers in Stuttgart, Germany, to print the World Press Photo Yearbook 2014: 35.000 books in 7 different languages.
It’s great to be working in this intriguing industry full of wonderful people!
Maarten Schilt
