Bursa International Photography Festival (BursaFotoFest), organized with the cooperation of Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, Bursa City Council and Bursa Photography Art Association (BUFSAD) with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, opened its doors for the 19th time between 28-11 November this year, with the theme of 'Eye to Eye'. It hurts. The guest country of the festival will be Azerbaijan.
BursaFotoFest, which showed the success of being Turkey's first virtual photography festival by being held in digital environment last year due to the pandemic, brings together photography enthusiasts face to face in Bursa again with the theme of 'Eye to Eye' after a one-year hiatus. Bringing together many photographers from Turkey and the world every year, BursaFotoFest starts on November 19 with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Within the scope of the festival, which will last until 28 November, many side events such as performances, artist talks, interviews with masters, documentary film screenings and portfolio evaluations will be held as well as exhibitions. The venue of BursaFotoFest will be the Atatürk Congress Culture Center Fairground as it is every year.
12 photographers from 262 countries
BursaPhotoFest 2021, curated by Kamil Fırat from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Photography Department, will take place from 12 countries including USA, Azerbaijan, England, Iran, Mexico, Kosovo, Netherlands, India, Russia, Bangladesh, Chile and Turkey. 262 photographers participate. More than 200 photographs will be featured in 3000 exhibitions. Exhibitions will meet with photography lovers in special areas to be set up in Merinos AKKM Fairground.
Within the scope of the festival, many side events such as performances, artist talks, interviews with masters, documentary film screenings and portfolio evaluations will be organized.
While important names such as National Geographic Photographer Rena Effendi from Azerbaijan, Vanessa Winship from England, Gala Phenia from Mexico and Jetmir Idrizi from Kosovo took part in the festival, masters such as İbrahim Zaman, Mustafa Seven and Kemal Cengizkan from Turkey are in Bursa. will meet with photography lovers.
Guest country 'Azerbaijan'
BursaFotoFest, which is one of the world's leading photography festivals and hosted the "People's Republic of China" in 2017, "India" in 2018, and Russia as a guest country in 2019, invites Azerbaijan as a "guest country" this year. In this context, the exhibition of 34 photographers from the Create Contemporary Art Platform and the Azerbaijan Photographers Union will take place at BursaFotoFest.
From Turkey, Ankara, Antalya, Aydın, Balıkesir, Bayburt, Diyarbakır, Erzincan, Erzurum, Eskişehir, Gaziantep, Hakkari, Hatay, Iğdır, İstanbul, İzmir, Kocaeli, Malatya, Mersin, Muş, Nevşehir, Ordu Şanlıurfa, Tokat, Trabzon and exhibitions of photographers from Zonguldak.
The introductory meeting of BursaFotoFest, which is eagerly awaited by photography enthusiasts, was held at Merinos Muradiye Hall. In addition to Metropolitan Mayor Alinur Aktaş, Bursa City Council President Şevket Orhan, PhotoFest Curator Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University Photography Department Lecturer Kamil Fırat and Bursa Photography Art Association President Serpil Savaş attended the meeting.
“PhotoFest is the common value of Bursa”
Metropolitan Mayor Alinur Aktaş said that for a city to be known, it should host brand events. Stating that FotoFest is such a meeting, Chairman Alinur Aktaş stated that they are working to raise the bar even higher. Expressing that Bursa is a city where all cultures are blended, Mayor Aktaş said, “Bursa will be the Cultural Capital of the Turkish World next year. The second Korkut Ata Turkish World Film Festival will be held in Bursa next year. We want to increase such events. BursaPhotoFest, which was held for the 11th time this year, should be evaluated in this context. Due to the pandemic, we did it digitally last year, but we still did not take a break. But it is very valuable and valuable to do it face to face. The theme of FotoFest this year was 'Eye to Eye'. Eye to eye is the equivalent of the most natural way of communicating. Eye-to-eye contact is an interaction, being able to touch each other with a glance, in other words, meeting. "Every meeting makes the world more beautiful and brings down the walls of prejudice," he said.
Reminding that the guest country this year is Azerbaijan, the friendly and brotherly country, which is one of the countries that can be identified with eye to eye, President Aktaş stated that the anniversary of the Karabakh Victory was celebrated with various organizations in Bursa. Stating that there are more than 200 responses to 'eyes' in Azerbaijani Turkish, President Aktaş said, “Many side events such as performances, artist talks, interviews with masters, documentary film screenings and portfolio evaluations will be held within the scope of the festival. Volunteers, especially BUFSAD, Bursa City Council Youth Assembly, Bursa City Council Photography Working Group, and community members of schools and universities will take part in BursaPhotoFest 2021. FotoFest is the common value of Bursa. In recent years, serious work has been done on photography. I would like to thank everyone who contributed,” he said.
Bursa Deputy Atilla Ödünç said that it is proud that the adventure that started 11 years ago continues as an international festival. Thanking those who contributed, especially the Mayor of the Metropolitan Municipality, Alinur Aktaş, Ödünç explained that there are many places to be photographed in Bursa and stated that people who are interested in photography have important duties in this sense.
Bursa City Council President Şevket Orhan stated that they are very happy to host the international Bursa Photography Festival and stated that it is pleasing that Metropolitan Mayor Alinur Aktaş is sensitive to the issue. Orhan, who thanked everyone who contributed to the important organization, stated that the festival has been organized for years with great effort.
Serpil Savaş, President of Bursa Photography Art Association, expressed that they are proud and happy that BursaFotoFest turns 11 years old. Thanking those who contributed to this excitement, Savaş stated that the festival, which was held in the digital environment last year due to the pandemic, will reflect the warmth of sincerity and solidarity with the theme of 'Eye to Eye' this year.
FotoFest Curator Kamil Fırat said that there is more interest in the festival, which is held for the 11th time this year. Explaining that nearly 1000 photographers applied this year, Fırat emphasized that BursaPhotoFest is the only international photography festival in Turkey and that it is proud for Bursa to be known all over the world. Expressing that Azerbaijan is the guest country this year, Fırat pointed out that Bursa unites the east and the west with this organization.
BursaFotoFest will start with the 'Festival walk' to be held on Cumhuriyet Street at 19:2021 on Friday, 17.00 November 19.00, and the 'Festival Opening Ceremony' will be held at the Merinos AKKM Fairgrounds at XNUMX.
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