Arts and Culture

OVERVIEW

The theme of the 2009 Asia-Europe Emerging Photographers' Forum was "Creative Economies," and it brought together 23 photographers and eight facilitators from Asia and Europe to explore the importance of photography in light of the current global financial crisis. Participants were asked to show photographs from their own culture to provide different perspectives on sustainable and gift economies. Their works were also presented during the 9th ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting, and hosted at Hanoi's Goethe-Institut for a public viewing.

The forum was held over two phases: The first phase consisted of an online interaction and exchanges between the participants and the facilitators via the Asia-Europe Photo Collaboratory platform, while the second phase comprised an intensive week of lectures and workshops, where photography collaborations and dialogues on art exploration and experimentation in the context of creative economies took place.

THE ISSUES

How can creative creative photography impact the perception of shifting economies in the globalised world?

How can social co-operation and creativity meet in the space of indeterminate economic capacity?

FACILITATORS

Peter Bialobrzeski, Professor for Photography, University of Arts, Bremen, Germany. Shahidul Alam, Director of “Chobi Mela” - International Festival of Photography, Bangladesh. Alex Moh, Initiator of the Kuala Lumpur International Biennale, Malaysia. Yee I- Lann, Multimedia Artist, Malaysia. Hiromi Nakamura, Curator of Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Japan.Masaaki Nishimiya, Honorary Advisor of APA, Dean of Photography at Nagoya University of Art and Sciences, Japan. Nathalie Belayche, Independent Curator, France.Martin Fuchs, Magnum Photo Editor, Austria.