International photo festival Noorderlicht takes you on a journey through time in the Akerk in Groningen. In the old prayer house, about twenty photographers investigate the past, of slavery, ancestors and primeval forests. They show the depressing present, for example with images of devastating open mining. And they offer a beckoning future perspective. For example, the photos of World Press Photo winner Simone Tramonte about Europe as the first carbon-neutral continent are (a little) hopeful.
A place of worship like the Akerk, with a floor made of gravestones worn by eternal shuffling and the reverberation of thunder sermons, automatically puts the visitor in a contemplative state. That helps with Noorderlicht, which never prides itself on easily accessible photography. Not in either Regenerate, a series of exhibitions that have been spread across the northern provinces since the summer, from Assen and Oranjewoud to Gorredijk and now Groningen. It is about social reform, economic and ecological change. And draw on the past for inspiration. Sometimes vague, sometimes intellectualistic, but above all: interesting and educational.
About the author
Arno Haijtema is an editor at de Volkskrant and writes, among other things, about photography and the way in which news photos determine our worldview.
Regenerate does not often touch the heart, partly because the human species, in whom the visitor finds recognition, is not often visible. Humanity manifests itself here in the traces it leaves behind, or in through artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) dominated works of art. Fascinating, but the pixels displace the warmth of flesh and blood.
The Nigerian artist Neec Nonso has found a special form to depict his story about belief in reincarnation, the bond with ancestors and their continued life after death. Colorful photos show him in various guises, in front of an old house or in the forest. When the viewer points their smartphone at the photo using an app, the screen comes to life and the ancestral spirits appear to appear. With ritual symbols, words, sounds and a crystal-clear visual language in AR, Nonzo creates his own world – intriguing and not at all kitschy.
The Dutch Michelle Piergoelam also reaches into the past, using technically simpler means. With nighttime photos from Suriname, a canoe in the river, a figure in the forest, she evokes associations with slavery and the African origins of people in slavery. Their songs contain messages that they themselves, but their oppressors, could not fathom. Some age-old songs have been preserved by subsequent generations; they sound on the headphones with the photos. Also a way to preserve ancestors and their history.
Many photographers focus on crops, or the disappearance of species diversity – a trend also visible at the recent Arles photo festival. For example, Norwegian Eline Benjaminsen presents the first results of comprehensive research she conducted with Kenyan journalist Elias Kimaiyo into the clean promises of afforestation as compensation for carbon emissions. Contrary to what had been hoped, this appears to conflict with nature conservation.
Kimaiyo comes from a valley where such a forest would have to be planted, were it not for the fact that the original inhabitants use the area for their own modest forestry methods. The project leads to violent conflicts and is therefore a striking example of how business interests disguised as an (already dubious) climate goal cause damage. The battle between commerce and traditional small-scale: a stunningly green, rolling landscape.
Similar in theme, but poetic in a different way, is the video film by the Dutch Eline Kersten about the Bialowieza primeval forest on the border of Poland and Belarus. You hear the forest, which is (someday not) threatened with deforestation, cracking from old age. The viewer who takes his time feels, through that scanning, concentrated camera work, more or less included in the unruly forest.
In contrast to the rugged beauty of the primeval forest is the series by the French-German Daniel Chatard. For years he has been following how open-pit mining for lignite extraction is destroying the landscape in the German Rhineland. Complete villages are gradually being swallowed up. Chatard focuses his camera mainly on the resistance against the fossil gobbledygook, energy company RWE. The demonstrators are like small ants next to the deep ravines that the machines dig.
Nice how thematically contrasting Regenerate can still offer hope after so much sadness. With his optimistic series, awarded by World Press Photo, the Italian Simone Tramonte shows what the dream of emission-free Europe looks like: the enormous, solar-thermal power station in Andalusia, hot water from geysers in Iceland and collectively owned wind turbines in Danish waters sketch the contours of the post-fossil era. In the photo from Denmark we see citizens bathing in the mirror-smooth sea, with their windmills in the background. It looks like a summer idyll, which can only be disturbed by a strong breeze, which is necessary for the operation of the mills.
International Northern Lights Photo Festival: Regenerate. Akerk, Groningen. Sometimes different opening hours. The festival lasts until 10/12.
Power source
Art center Campis in Assen offers as part of Regenerate a stage for the artists Karianne Bueno, M’hammed Kilito and Rasa Smite & Raitis Smits. They show works about nature as a source of nutrition and ask the question: how do we as humans relate to nature and how can we work together to improve our own well-being and that of the planet? On display until November 26.