Photomed is a festival held annually in the French city of Sanary-sur-Mer. A version of Photomed opened last weekend in Beirut and, like its older brother, the festival showcases the work of Mediterranean photographers. C. Charbonnier covered the event for L’Oeil.
Photomed Opens in Lebanon
In an exhibition hall with work by Italian photographer Nino Migliori on the walls, champagne glasses and canapé were making the rounds. The first Photomed festival in Lebanon kicked off on Thursday, January 16. So far attendance has been strong, despite the tense security situation: that same day, a bomb exploded in one of the country’s Eastern cities. For the festival organizers, there was no question of giving up: “Being here tonight is a kind of cultural resistance,” said Serge Akl, director of the Office of Lebanese Tourism in France and a festival partner. “We decided not to cancel or postpone the festival, all the while taking into account the safety of its participants,” said festival founder Philippe Heullant.
Photomed was born three years ago in the small town of Sanary in Southern France. The festival showcases, as its name suggests, Mediterranean photography, which, according to artistic director Jean-Luc Monterosso, “couldn’t always find a place at festivals or in the specialized press.” With more than 55,000 visitors over three weeks for the 2013 French edition, over the years the festival has become a major event on the international photography scene. For the first time, it has set sail and landed on the other side of the sea, in Lebanon, the guest country of honor following Turkey in 2011 and Morocco in 2012.
Photos and artists have made their way to Beirut to come into contact with a different public, “to make more real our desire to succeed, from a cultural perspective, the Union of the Mediterranean, originally a political project,” says Philippe Heullant. As in France, the organizers are making social interaction a large part of the festival. The photographers themselves will be on hand to greet visitors . “The success of the festival in Sanary, a small Mediterranean town, owes itself in large part to its warm and welcoming atmosphere, and we wanted to recreate that atmosphere here,” says the founder.
Landscapes, men and women, black-and-white and color photos hang side-by-side in nine different locations in the Lebanese capital. The work of fifteen artists will be exhibited for a month, through February 16. It’s the opportunity not only to discover or rediscover the work of Italian master Nino Migliori, but also the hidden side of film director Costa Gavras, who opened his photo archives to the public for the first time. Visitors will also be able to get to know Lebanese photography, from its big names like Fouad el Khoury to the younger generation. That is, after all, the festival’s goal: to invite the big names in photography and help younger artists find an audience.
FESTIVAL
Photomed
January 17 – February 16, 2014
Beirut
Lebanon
http://www.festivalphotomed.com/index.php/lib/Photomed
