KAUNAS PHOTO until 29 May 2021

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Deadline: 29 May 2021. KAUNAS PHOTO, the longest-running annual photographic festival in the Baltic States, based in Kaunas, is a platform of premieres of emerging talents. “Photo World” (China) titled KAUNAS PHOTO as a festival on crossroads of European photography. The current objective is to become a friendly festival to its audience as well as to the participating artists.

In collaboration with LensCulture, KAUNAS PHOTO festival announces an Open Call for its 18th edition, inviting photographers to propose their works and offering exhibiting opportunities as well as participation at New KAUNAS PHOTO STAR Award, consisting of a solo exhibition at the largest photography gallery in the Baltic States, Kaunas Photography Gallery and a 2500 EUR monetary prize. Open Call provides opportunities to be selected to the festival exhibition and projection program. All exhibiting artists, selected via KAUNAS PHOTO STAR Open Call will be offered artist fees.

KAUNAS PHOTO festival opening events will start on September 3, 2021 with KAUNAS PHOTO STAR Exhibition. Festival’s events and outdoor exhibitions will run until the end of October.

• Topic of the year: AGE

“Being young is foolish”, one could sometimes hear in Lithuanian elderly say . Or, “new generations are lost to computer screens” and “would be uncapable to survive” in the off-line world. This clash of philosophies is not only based on real-time conditions, but on ways generations see life.

In 2021, KAUNAS PHOTO festival turns eighteen, and enters the adult age. Therefore, it will focus on threshold of coming of age, becoming adult, pros and cons, stories and senses of being small, young, teenage, parent, mid-age, retired, with or without grand-children, hobby, job, retirement savings facing the sunset of life. Works relating to general or specific aspects of choices of life, crisis, joys, traditions, stereotypes, taboos, social norms and implications of big data society on age groups is of an interest. Pandemic and the ways people of different age groups cope with isolation are among the possible current topics. A festival, strongly associated with documentary photography, but indulgent to ironic or even humorous treatment of subjects by artists, KAUNAS PHOTO is looking for artists who observe, analyze, co-create with people – both with those at the edge of crossroads of life and those who have seen it all, changes of currency, political systems, changing technologies and borders.

In numerous countries of the world, 18 is the age of leaving school, or leaving hometown for metropolis, travelling the world (as it used to be before the pandemic), choosing whom to vote for, maybe getting driver’s licence, possibly diving into the unknown and undescribable quest of experience of adult night and day life. Youth life in its daily struggle and taste, difficulties and victories will be sought after by KAUNAS PHOTO 2021, the 18 year-young festival.

Stories and concepts of what can be done to improve young people’s lives, living and working opportunities and conditions, as well as what young people do to transform today’s world are very welcome in photographic works. The age threshold of 18 is often associated with self-determination, own decisions, consent whether or not a person allows his/her image to be publicized via photography. Nonetheless, in full awareness that both photographing and exhibiting images of children and youth, can be delicate and challenging, organizers of KAUNAS PHOTO invite photographers to be broad-minded about interpretations of the youth topic.

KAUNAS PHOTO STAR 2021 topic corresponds to the general topic of the festival, AGE.

Prizes:

• Open Call Opportunities

Photographers/Artists submitting works to Open Call can be enrolled in Kaunas Photo 2021 in the following ways:

– works can be included into KAUNAS PHOTO festival program, its indoor and outdoor exhibitions, presented in squares in Kaunas;
– Projection events;
– KAUNAS PHOTO STAR Award – Finalist’s and Winner’s exhibitions.
The Jury panel of decision-making curators on the Jury panel, who will review all entries and eventually are potential providers of opportunities through their platforms, institutions and networks.

• The New KAUNAS PHOTO STAR Award with 2500 EUR prize

The KAUNAS PHOTO STAR tradition started in 2010, awarding the best participant of portfolio reviews with a solo exhibition at Kaunas Photography Gallery and paying respect to a probable future star of photography. Since 2018, the KAUNAS PHOTO STAR Winner also receives a 2500 EUR prize, and a joint exhibition of Finalists is held and opened on the same day. Possible income tax obligations, eventually imposed by the country of citizenship of the Winner, will be his/her responsibility. For a Lithuanian citizen, this prize would be tax-exempt.

KAUNAS PHOTO STAR Finalists exhibitions across the venues of Kaunas old town and the Winner’s exhibition at Kaunas Photography Gallery will open on September 3, 2021.

Photo Contest Website: http://festival.kaunasphoto.com/kaunas-photo-2021-open-call/