VII IEFC Photography Conference: Migrations

Al'Akhawat, Abdoulaye Fall, Myriam Meloni, Richard Mosse, Edu Ponces, Anna Surinyach

Migratory movements have surged, becoming a clear symptom of a world riven by structural inequalities, the climate crisis and armed conflict. 

In response to this state of affairs, the image must question its own capacity to depict reality, the ways it impacts on spaces of visibility and the ethical dilemmas that derive from it, all while promoting critical thinking.

The image can document, open up new perspectives and call prejudices and stereotypes into question, at the same time as taking on board the ethical and formal challenges entailed.

This conference is a forum for exchanges and debate on the visual responsibilities of the realm of the image. It also explores the possibilities of shifting the limits of representation and provides an environment where the voices of those who have experienced the migratory process first hand can be heard.

PROGRAM

Tuesday 21 October, 7 pm 
Photographing the Missing in Migration 
Dialogue between Anna Surinyach and Abdoulaye Fall, moderated by Edu Ponces 
Migration is one of the most important phenomena of our time, and also one of its greatest tragedies. Documenting it ethically represents a major challenge for journalism and documentary photography, especially when focussing on the thousands of people who disappear along the way.

Wednesday 22 October, 7 pm
Incoming
Richard Mosse 
Richard Mosse has spent much of his career documenting migratory movements around the world, calling into question the way we depict pain and dispossession. His work subverts the codes of the prevailing visual narrative as he probes the boundaries between art, documentary and politics. He invites us to reflect on the suffering of others, the nature of our responsibility and the way images can kindle critical thinking and empathy. 

Thursday 23 October, 7 pm 
Shifting Borders, Dwelling in Transit 
Myriam Meloni 
To migrate is not just to move: it is a political and existential act that challenges borders, sovereignties and privileges. Words and images invite us to rethink movement and the inequalities that run through it. The talk is organized in relation to the exhibition En los días claros se ve Europa, presented at the IEFC.

Memories and Territories Open to Listening  
The accounts told among the members of Al’Akhawat nostalgically evoke the migrant memory: bureaucratic archives, stories, theoretical and poetic writings that interconnect, blurring boundaries and bringing the personal and communal together..

Al'Akhawat came into being thanks to the insecting paths of five artists in the Moroccan-Spanish diaspora: Sanae El Mokaddim Ayadi, Youssef Taki Miloudi, Karim Khourrou Gadour, Oumaima Manchit Laroussi and Aicha Josefa Trinidad Gououi. Their first projects as a collective centred on internet cafés, as they were conscious of the cultural, social and political value of these meeting places.

Abdoulaye Fall, born in Rufisque in Senegal, holds a PhD in Demographics awarded by the Centre for Demographic Studies at the Autonomous University of Barcelona for his thesis on Senegalese and Sub-Saharan immigration into Catalonia. His work reflects his strong commitment to community development, intercultural dialogue and entrepreneurship.

Myriam Meloni. In her artistic practice, Meloni addresses migration from the perspective of privilege and inequality, underscoring how freedom of movement is still subject to the colonial legacy, class and access to a European passport.

Richard Mosse Irish artist currently residing in New York. He has documented some of the most important humanitarian and environmental crises of our time. His work subverts the standard conventions of the ossified accounts that appear in the mass media and challenges the way in which conflicts are portrayed.

Edu Ponces studied photography and photojournalism at the IEFC (Catalan Institute of Photographic Studies) and is one of the founding members of RUIDO Photo. He has devoted much of his professional career to studying migrations and the environmental crisis.

Anna Surinyach is a documentary photographer and co-founder of the magazine 5W, which specialises in narrative journalism. With her sensitive and critical eye, she documents issues related to human rights violations and migration.

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