Month of Photography in Montreal

Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal, (The Month of Photography in Montreal) is regarded by Simon Bainbrich, Editor of the British Journal of Photography, as one of the ten best photography biennials in the world. This is the 12th edition of a biennial that began in 1989. Since 2003 the biennial has appointed a Guest Curator to choose the event¿s theme. This year's theme is Lucidity. Inward Views and it is centered on the use of light to confer visibility to the photograph. This edition's Guest Curator, Anne-Marie Ninacs, Curator at the Quebec National Gallery of Fine Arts, selected the title for this year. Ninacs has a Masters Degree in Art History and another one in Museum Studies. The biennial will be spread across the city in 14 exhibitions sites: the McCord Museum, 2 university galleries, 2 municipal cultural centers, 8 artists¿ centers, and 1 leased contemporary art space. Likewise, the event will present 25 solo exhibitions by artists from Canada, Mexico, South Africa, China, Colombia, Germany, Portugal, Luxemburg, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Denmark, Japan, South Korea, Spain, and Switzerland. Two Latin American artists participated in this edition of the event: Alfonso Arzapalo (Guadalajara, Mexico) and Juan Manuel Echavarría (Medellin, Colombia). Alfonso Arzapalo presented two videos and one architectural intervention placed in the main lobby and façade of a building. The videos are moving photographs and the Biennial is an avant-garde event that explores questions generated by contemporary photography. The two videos are projected onto a two-sided screen that measures 600 * 270 cm (236.2 × 106.3 in). The human figures depicted are life-size and confer realism to the video. In the building¿s façade that serves as an architectural environment, and also in the installation of texts on vinyl over the façade, and accompanied by furniture pieces in the lobby that take the space as sculptural objects that allow spectators to appreciate the work comfortably.* Juan Manuel Echavarría presented the installation entitled Requiem NN that included 48 photographs. He shows the graves of persons who were found dead on the bank of the river Magalena by the inhabitants of Puerto Berrio, in Colombia. The locals bury the bodies in a cemetery, decorate the graves with flowers and ask for miracles. Some graves are adorned with fake flowers placed in coffee cups. In one of the graves the following legend can be read: "Thank you NN, Jorge Luis for the favors granted." Another grave has a painted angel. This is a noble tradition by this town and Echavarría feels compelled to depict their gesture. Note *Interview with Alfonso Arzapalo, October 2011