Emergentes Portfolio Reviews 2024

Jens Friis (MA, History of Photographic Art) was curator in charge of the photographic collection of Museet for Fotokunst, Odense (Denmark) as well as the artistic co-director of the photo festival FotoTriennale.dk initiated by same museum from 2003-2016. During this period he was also the editor of the bilingual and internationally recognized journal KATALOG, which he has continued personally since 2015. Now in its 34th year with an editorial “flexi-board”, contributors and subscribers from all over the world, KATALOG is also an international platform for projects such as Nordic Photo Festival Network, the Creative Europe partnership Parallel and most recently the international Fast Forward – Women in Photography launched at Paris Photo and Tate Modern in 2019. KATALOG has cooperated with the festivals in Cardiff, Glasgow, Houston, Landskrona, Lisbon, e.a. As an author, he has written numerous articles for KATALOG, other journals and several introductions. He has contributed to anthologies i.e. Danish Photographic History (2004) and The History of European Photography 1970-2000 (2016). Aiding the advancement of new talents, he has served on international nominating committees for awards such as Photo Lucida (Seattle), Voies Off (Arles), Kolga Tbilisi (Georgia) as well as on the advisory committee of the Spanish magazine EXIT. Since his debut as a portfolio reviewer at FotoFest in 2004, he has participated in more than 70 festivals and seminars sharing his knowledge, advice and connections, but also gathering valuable material for exhibitions and future issues of the journal.

Rui Prata born in 1955, Sesimbra (Portugal), began his professional career as a history teacher (1980-1998) and has been the Director of Braga Image Museum since its opening in 1999. He was the founder (1987) and artistic Director of Encontros da Imagem Photo Festival – until 2013. At Encontros da Imagem he had manage national and international projects based on photography creating a large network of contacts.

Since 1990 he has lectured on contemporary photography throughout Europe and in Brazil, and acted as a curator for both national and international exhibitions. Prata is a portfolio reviewer for several international festivals.

In 2019 he creates a new photo festival — IMAGO LISBOA — of which he is artistic director.

Rui Prata has a degree in History from Porto University, a postgraduate degree in Fine Art direction from Escola Superior Artística do Porto, and a Master degree in Curatorial & Contemporary Museology from Porto Fine Arts University.

Michael Weir, CEO of Belfast Photo Festival since 2009, has curated contemporary art and, primarily, photography exhibitions. He has recently taken a particular interest in “augmented photography” and in the ways new technology has changed the medium. While curating exhibitions, annually Michael Weir organises panel discussions, conferences, lectures, residencies, workshops and film screenings featuring artists such as Ai Wei Wei, Alec Soth, Roger Ballen and Robert Mapplethorpe. He has served on the juries of many international awards, including the ICP Infinity Awards (New York) and SIFEST (Bologna). He also regularly participates in international portfolio readings, notably at Rencontres d’Arles (France), Art Taipei (Taiwan), Platform20 (Switzerland), the Singapore International Photography Festival and Chobi Mela (Bangladesh).

Moritz Neumüller (b. Linz, Austria, 1972) is a curator, educator and activist in the field of visual art. He has worked for institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, La Fábrica in Madrid and PhotoIreland, in Dublin. Furthermore, he runs an online resource for visual artists, called The Curator Ship, and is chief curator of the Photobookweek Aarhus, Denmark. Recent projects include the exhibition Photobook Phenomenon at CCCB Barcelona and The Routledge Companion to Photography, Representation and Social Justice, published by Taylor & Francis New York. His research-based practice also is strongly connected with collaborative and participatory research methodologies, and a strong desire to connect people through culture. Together with other researchers and artists, Neumüller has developed a methodology called Tactile Photography, based on the idea of a stereoscopic capturing system and 3D printing. He is currently in Japan to perform a participative workshop program, in the framework of the TOKAS Research Residency Program in Tokyo.

Trish Lambe is the Artistic Director/CEO at Photo Museum Ireland, Ireland’s national centre for contemporary photography. She has overall responsible for exhibition curation, artistic programming and the development of the museum’s artists’ archiving initiative. Her curatorial practice is particularly concerned with social and political issues in Ireland. Recent projects include the Reframing the Border 5-year cross-border programme and the In Our Own Image year-long survey of contemporary practices in Ireland. She was the founder of the Museum’s ongoing Photo Album of the Irish social engagement project which explores vernacular photography from Ireland. She is a nominator for national and international artists awards and commissions including the Deutsche Borse Prize and the Prix Pictet.

Lives and works in Lisbon. He studied photography at Ar.Co., Lisbon (1985) and History at Univ. Lusíada, Lisbon (BA 1992), an MA in Image and Communication at Goldsmith’s College, London (1997) and a PhD in Photography Studies at Univ. of Westminster, London (2011). He was an Assistant Professor at Universidade Lusófona (2010-2014), ESMAE, Politécnico do Porto (2010-2014), ESAD, Caldas da Rainha (2010-2011), Atelier de Lisboa (2010-2016), FBAUL, Universidade de Lisboa (2016-2020) and Escola das Artes, Universidade Católica, Porto (since 2011). He is currently a researcher at the Institute of Contemporary History of the New University of Lisbon (since 2014). He has exhibited regularly in public and private institutions since 1997. His work is represented in various private and institutional art collections (selection): State Collection of Contemporary Art, Portugal, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, EDP Foundation, PLMJ, Novo Banco, Museum of London, Lisbon Photographic Archive and Portuguese Photography Centre.

Wiktoria Michałkiewicz is an interdisciplinary specialist with a passion for storytelling, talent development, journalism, and photography. Her academic journey encompasses five academic degrees that include a PhD in Sociology and MA degrees in Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies from Stockholm University, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Lumière University Lyon 2, and Jagiellonian University. Dr. Michałkiewicz serves as a contributing editor for renowned international magazines, including National Geographic, Harper’s Bazaar, and Vogue. As an exhibition producer and curator, she has curated multiple exhibitions featuring celebrated artists, collaborating closely with international festivals and esteemed institutions. In one of her most recent roles, she played an integral part in the expansion of Fotografiska Stockholm to Tallinn and New York as part of Fotografiska International. In 2021, fuelled by her passion for transformative power of art, she established REZO, a global consulting agency focused on talent development for visual artists, art advisory services, and merging art with business and academia. Dr. Michałkiewicz often works with most prestigious international art events, galleries, organisations, and venues as a contributor, jury member, speaker, and consultant. @rezo.agency @wiktoriami

Azu Nwagbogu is an internationally acclaimed curator, interested in evolving new models of engagement with questions of decolonization, restitution, and repatriation. In his practice, the exhibition becomes an experimental site for reflection, civic engagement, ecology and repatriation – both tangible and symbolic. Nwagbogu is the Founder and Director of African Artists’ Foundation (AAF), a non- profit organisation based in Lagos, Nigeria. He also serves as Founder and Director of LagosPhoto Festival, an annual international arts festival of photography held in Lagos. He is the publisher of Art Base Africa, a virtual space to discover and learn about contemporary art from Africa and its diasporas. In 2023, he was named an Explorer at Large by the National Geographic Society, recognizing his commitment to exploring and documenting the world’s diverse cultures and environments. He has also been appointed the curator of the first ever Republic of Benin pavilion for the 2024 Venice Biennale. In 2022, Azu Nwagbogu was appointed as one of the first curators of Buro Stedelijk, a new platform for contemporary African art based in Amsterdam. His expertise in contemporary African art has made him a sought-after speaker and panelist at art events around the world. In 2022, Nwagbogu also launched the project “Dig Where You Stand (DWYS) – From Coast to Coast” which offers a new model for institutional building and engagement, with questions of decolonization, restitution and repatriation, the exhibition took place in Ibrahim Mahama’s culture hub SCCA in Tamale, Ghana. In 2021, he was awarded “Curator of Year 2021” by the Royal Photographic Society, UK, and also listed amongst the hundred most influential people in the art world by ArtReview. Nwagbogu’s primary interest is in reinventing the idea of the museum and its role as a civic space for engagement for society at large.