The Museum of Contemporary Art of Moscow presents as part of the 11th International Month of Photography in Moscow PHOTOBIENNALE 2016, Only A Game ? an exhibition by Russian photographer Maria Ionova-Gribina curated by Anna Zaitseva.
Nearly every small boy has at least one toy pistol, gun or wooden sword. The prototypes of some playthings can be found in films or comic books, others are similar to real weapons, but almost all forms of present-day weaponry have toy equivalents. Some parents try to shield their children from toy weapons, motivated by the idea that there is no need to encourage aggression in children. Others, on the contrary, favour war games, saying that boys should be raised as ‘real men’, that they should feel powerful in order to defend their kinsfolk, their family and country.
I found the subjects of these photographs on the Internet, inviting children to pose with their favourite toy weapons. When preparing for the portraits I gave them total freedom on which toy they selected and what pose they assumed. Did these images turn out aggressive and bellicose? Or do we find them endearing, since for us this is only a game?
-MIG
FESTIVAL
PHOTOBIENNALE 2016
The 11th International Month of Photography in Moscow
Only A Game
Maria Ionova-Gribina
From March 15 till April 17, 2016
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Moscow
Ermolaevskiy str, 17
Moscow
Russia
http://www.mmoma.ru/en/
http://www.mamm-mdf.ru/en/festivals/photobiennale-2016/
