The festival will be extended until late September to enable the public to attend the shows in this huge photography and visual arts event
The institutions participating in the Festival will join starting in June by opening their shows to the public, depending on their capacity and calendars
The kick-off of this year’s edition will be marked by simultaneous openings of the exhibitions from the #PHEdesdemibalcón call for participation in the balconies and windows of Spain
#PHEdesdemibalcón is an appeal to citizens’ creativity and artistic exploration; its point of departure is windows and balconies, extraordinarily important places today which have been referents throughout art history
Madrid, Barcelona, A Coruña, Seville, Santander, Salamanca, Segovia, Valladolid, Las Palmas, Oviedo and Zaragoza are just some of the cities which have joined the initiative
The call for participation has been planned as a tribute to citizens to thank them for their effort and commitment these days
PHotoESPAÑA, the International Festival of Photography and Visual Arts, will extend the programming of its 23rd edition until late September. Therefore, the festival will schedule activities over the course of four months, from June through September, so that all the participating institutions’ exhibitions can join whenever their capacities and calendars allow them.
To kick off this year’s edition, exhibitions featuring a series of pictures from #PHEdesdemibalcón, the call for citizen participation, will open simultaneously in the balconies and windows of emblematic places in different cities in Spain. Thus, the Festival’s opening will become a huge collective event that acknowledges citizens’ efforts during this difficult time, when it’s needed more than ever.
#PHEdesdemibalcón
PHotoESPAÑA wanted to invite Spanish citizens to take advantage of these days to use their homes’ windows and balconies as a source of inspiration and the frame through which they can construct a collective photographic story in the #PHEdesdemibalcón call for participation. It is a chance to more deeply explore our way of looking while rediscovering our environs, our neighbours and even ourselves.
This invitation has been extended to the largest town halls in Spain, which have been encouraged to join the effort by pledging to organise exhibitions in the most representative nooks, crannies and spaces in their cities during the summer with a selection of the pictures by their inhabitants.
Balconies and windows will be turned into galleries where each of the individual views can be collectively shared, views from balconies which we will have the chance to see from the other side.
#PHEdesdemibalcón is thus suggesting a tribute to citizens to show gratitude for their effort and commitment during these difficult times.
More than 20 town halls have already joined the initiative by pledging to host these outdoor shows. They include Madrid, Barcelona, Santander, A Coruña, Seville, Córdoba, Logroño, Vitoria, Salamanca, Segovia, Valladolid, Las Palmas, Oviedo and Zaragoza.
To participate, all you have to do is follow the PHotoESPAÑA account on Instagram (@photoespana_), upload the photographs to your individual profile using the hashtags #PHEdesdemibalcón, #PHE20 and @photoespana_, and register your participation on the website www.phe.es.
The festival website will host a virtual gallery with a selection of the best pictures submitted. The call for participation will remain open until 17 May.
Windows and balconies as symbols of representation
Picasso, Dali, Magritte, Hopper… Throughout art history, windows have been and remain a recurring motif in art, either revealing an outside reality or used as a symbol of yearning.
In fact, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce used a window as an artistic motif in the very first documented photograph in history, View from the Window at La Gras. And since then, a host of prominent photographers have used windows and balconies to reflect on indoor and outdoor space.
At times like this, when the world is embroiled into a complicated period, windows and balconies have come to the fore, and now more than ever they are laden with meaning. We look out them to stay in touch with the outside world, explore new forms of communication and try to share our encouragement and gratitude with those who cannot see us but who do hear us.
This call for participation aims to serve as a window onto individual creativity in a collective project that we hope helps us feel the excitement of anticipation and share another common goal.
As Elliott Erwitt said, “Photography is the art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place. I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”
