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Wellington will host the inaugural Photival Photography Festival in February, the first photography festival in the capital for over ten years.

Photival is a photography festival for positive change and is being produced by GoldFish Creative, the team who’ve been instrumental in delivering the LUX Light Festival and The Performance Arcade. The festival aims to make a positive social impact by connecting audiences with charity organisations making a difference in the community.

Photival will celebrate local and international photographers with over 20 different photographers to exhibit their work: from well-known international artists to tertiary students to open call submission winners judged by a panel of international photography experts.

International confirmations include Sim Chi Yin, Tamara Abdul Hadi, Myriam Abdelaziz and a show of curated work by Myles Little (Photo Editor for TIME Magazine, New York City).

“Images from photographers like Sim Chi Yin will generate conversations. Her series The Rat Tribe captures people living on the brink of acceptable living conditions in Beijing, China. We’re thrilled to be able to present these images and I view it as incredibly important to bring the subject matter to the forefront of public discussion in an engaging and fresh way. Myles Little’s highly acclaimed curated show includes work of photographers from North America, Europe, Africa and South Korea. It has been exhibited internationally and it is a huge honour to bring it here to New Zealand for the first time,” says Photival Director Demi Heath.

Photival will celebrate New Zealand nationals Conor Clarke, Chris Corson-Scott, Henry Hargreaves, Birgit Krippner and Ans Westra.

“Many of these New Zealand photographers are based overseas, earning great recognition with international audiences. I’m thrilled that Photival is presenting the opportunity for homegrown audiences to see their work exhibited as they intended,” says Heath.

Currently 11 local and international not-for-profit organisations are aligned with Photival’s planned exhibitions. 350 Aotearoa, Action Station, DCM, Forest and Bird, Kaibosh, One Percent Collective, Oxfam NZ, The Real News Network, Small Steps Project, Sustainability Trust, and Te Huinga A Matariki Ki Tuhoe Māori Women’s Welfare League are partnering with Photival.

“We wanted Photival to focus on documenting global issues, but we also felt this was an opportunity to go one step further by introducing the audience to organisations that are making progress in those areas.  We looked at each issue the photographers are tackling and researched the organisations that would best fit that message, focusing first on local organisations for Wellington and New Zealand, and then looking more globally,” says Heath.

New Zealand photographers are also invited to submit their work for inclusion in Photival, with the theme of ‘Our World on the Brink’.

“Three photographers will be selected by a panel of international guest judges to have their work exhibited alongside internationally acclaimed photographers, and displayed across Wellington for Photival’s promotional campaign. We encourage artists to use photography to show ‘Our World on the Brink’. Will we save or destroy our environment? Will we create technology that vastly improves our lives or that will stop us from living them? Will we alter the current political systems to make a better world? Will we consider cultures, species, languages important enough to save? Photography can play an important role in generating discussion and, we hope, action for audiences,” says Heath.

Brink submissions close on Friday 6 January 2017 and a minimum of three images are required per submission. The panel of international expert judges are Athol McCredie, Curator of Photography at Te Papa Museum, Nigel Atherton, Editor in Chief of Amateur Photographer, UK, and Myles Little, Photo Editor for TIME Magazine in New York City.

Photival is being produced with funding from Wellington City Council, The Asia New Zealand Foundation and Wellington City Creative Communities, as part of the New Zealand Fringe Festival.

All of Photival’s exhibitions will be free to attend in Wellington’s central city creative spaces for two weeks during Fringe in 2017: Saturday 18 February to Saturday 4 March 2017. Works will be displayed at more than eight central city locations, utilising open spaces, repurposed vacant buildings and existing galleries, all within walking distance and free to access. The following venues are confirmed: Thistle Hall, Photospace, 17 Tory Street + ‘The See Here’, Alpha Gallery, The Sustainability Trust, Suite Gallery, Cobblestone Park. Further venue details to be confirmed. Visit www.photival.com for updates.

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