Outline
Introduction
by Bob Hewitt, Chairman FotoFreo Inc
We have now finalising the details for the next festival which will take place from April 5th through until May 4th 2008. The official opening will be at the Fremantle Arts Centre on Friday night, the 4th of April. FotoFreo 2008 represents a big step forward in the development of our festival.
For FotoFreo 2008 we commissioned a new body of work by renowned Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky, introduced a significant educational component and focus to our festival activities and massively expanded the number of photographic exhibitions and venues, extending them throughout the Perth metropolitan area. This latter is the result of an increasing number of collaborations with major arts organisations, commercial galleries and other exhibition spaces – those loosely described as FotoFreo Perth and the FotoFreo Fringe.
At the last count there will be 29 core exhibitions, including 5 group shows, projections of 40 photographers and another 55 exhibitions in the FotoFreo Perth and FotoFreo Fringe. All up, 84 exhibitions involving more than 200 photographers.
These exhibitions, together with the conference, seminar, informal lectures, presentations and workshops, have created an event that is very much about a gathering of like minded people to look at photographs and discuss what is happening in the world of photography.
Most of the events that involve visiting photographers and speakers occur during the first 10 days of the (normally) month long festival period.
Photographers who have confirmed they will exhibit in and visit Fremantle for FotoFreo 2008 include Edward Burtynsky (Canada), Jodie Bieber (South Africa), Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin (UK), Paolo Pellegrin (Italy), Christophe Bourguedieu (France), Marian Drew (Qld), Christopher Koller (Vic), Stephen Dupont (NSW), Megan Lewis (WA), Connie Petrillo (WA), Dow Wasiksiri (Thailand), Chen Nong (China), Shi Guorui (China), Wang Gang (China), Robert Frith (WA) and Hayden Fowler (NZ). In addition there will be a show entitled, Contact/S: 30 The art of Photojournalism, from the USA and curated by the internationally renown photographer Robert Pledge. Speakers who have already agreed to present at either the conference or the seminar include: Helen Ennis (ACT), Daniel Palmer (Vic), Anne Marsh (Vic), Marian Drew (Qld), Robert Pledge (USA), Brook Andrews (Vic), Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin (UK), Jodi Bieber (South Africa), Shaune Lakin (ACT), Michael Desmond (ACT), Jack Picone (Thailand), Wen Huang (China), Mike Bower (Sydney), Jessica Hromas (Sydney) and our own David Dare Parker.
In addition to the 'core' activities undertaken by FotoFreo Inc there are the other exhibitions throughout Fremantle and the Perth metropolitan area that make up the ‘FotoFreo Fringe’ or ‘FotoFreo Perth’. FotoFreo Inc is not responsible in a financial sense for any of these exhibitions other than for the cross promotion of the exhibitions. While most of the 60+ photographers exhibiting in this part of the festival are from Western Australia there are a significant number of exhibitors from interstate and some from overseas.
A major new development in the form of the festival has been the commitment by unrelated third parties to undertake, at their own expense, significant photographic exhibitions in mainstream and commercial art galleries throughout Perth, with the express purpose of contributing to and being a part of the main festival programme. These include exhibitions at the Art Gallery of WA (Roger Ballen), the John Curtin Gallery (Brook Andrews), Perth Centre for Photography (Denis Dazacq), the CMC Tafe Gallery (Focus: Photography and War 1945-2006 from the War Museum in Canberra), the Johnston Gallery (Polixeni Papapetrou), the Turner Galleries (Darren Siwes) and ArtScource Exhibition Space in Fremantle (Hijacked). Again, the benefit to FotoFreo is in the cross promotional opportunities created by these exhibitions and the additional focus they bring to photography during the period of the festival.
Another new aspect of the festival is that two of the core exhibitions, Conversations with the Mob and HIGHJACKED, will also see the launching of two books from which the images for each of the exhibitions have been selected. Other changes will be the extension of festival activities into the third and fourth weeks of the festival with the running of a series of workshops.
In terms of the big picture, the board of FotoFreo is positioning the festival as a cultural link between Europe and Asia. Australia, and in particular Western Australia, is geographically and culturally well placed to do this.
FotoFreo Inc is an incorporated non profit association established as a community based organisation for the purpose of organising and running the FotoFreo Festival of Photography in the port city of Fremantle, Western Australia. It is run entirely by volunteers.
The port city of Fremantle is a popular destination for visitors to Western Australia. It is a very interesting and visual place, with a bustling port, a substantial fishing industry, surrounded by beaches and with a city centre (the West End) containing an outstanding collection of Federation and other historic buildings. Fremantle is also renowned for its coffee houses, small restaurants, numerous museums as well as significant historical landmarks such as the Round House and the Fremantle Prison.
But, from the point of view of an arts festival, there is substantial exhibition infrastructure and the town is compact, making it easy to get around on foot or on the free public transport.
At this time, no further expressions of interest to participate are being considered for FotoFreo 2008.
Photographic festivals are now important cultural events in many countries, particularly in Europe and North America.
It is the intention and the hope of the board of FotoFreo Inc that the FotoFreo festival will continue to grow as a significant photographic and cultural event both nationally and internationally.
In 1996, a group of photographers and other interested people tried to establish FotoFreo Mark 1. This group put together the outline of an event very much along the lines of FotoFreo 2006. But this first attempt was a much more ambitious project and probably, with hind sight, ahead of its time.
Subsequently, the inaugural FotoFreo festival took place in late March, 2002. This festival was more of a pilot and did not include any dedicated exhibition venues. It was considered a qualified success despite the many problems encountered. It ran at a loss that was covered by some of the organisers all of whom were volunteers. However, the consensus was that to grow the festival it could only be done as a biennale.
FotoFreo 2004 was three times bigger than the inaugural festival and included a number of dedicated exhibition venues and a fringe festival. All agreed that this event was an unqualified success. One of our sponsors, Fremantle Ports, won an award from the State Government for "The most innovative partnership" with a cultural organisation or event. The event broke even.
FotoFreo 2006 was more than twice the size of the 2004 festival and was again entirely organised and run by volunteers. For the first time during this festival there was a full range of the activities envisaged for the event besides the exhibitions and audiovisual projections - a conference, a seminar, lectures, floor talks, films and workshops.
As indicated above, FotoFreo 2008 will be similar in scope but somewhat bigger than the 2006 festival.
The current board members of FotoFreo Inc include Brad Rimmer, Graham Miller, David Dare Parker, Felicity Johnston, Jude Savage and Bob Hewitt (chair).
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