Fast Forward: Women in Photography together with University of Nicolaus Copernicus in Toruń announces the Polish edition of the Fast Forward conference Beyond The Canon, which is organized in partnership with Vintage Photo Festival.
The research project Fast Forward: Women in Photography aims to explore the work and histories of women photographers, promote opportunities and question ideas dominating the field of photography by initiating thoughtful, new debates. Initiated in 2014 with a panel discussion at Tate Modern, the project has become significant within the world of photography for examining the work of women photographers and for questioning the way that the established canons have been formed.
The sixth Fast Forward conference that will take place in Toruń, Poland explores the (hi)stories of women in photography with a particular reference to how women’s work is curated, exhibited and collected by museums, institutions, festivals, galleries and individuals. We are interested in the curators, the collectors and the photographers and through this inspiring conference intend to make a unique contribution to the study of women in the field of art by looking in detail about how exhibiting and collecting photography works.
For years photography was considered as a mediocre medium by the art world, its museums and galleries. Towards the mid 1990s the position of photography in the art world started to change and today it has become the “hot topic” of the global art field with works being exhibited, bought and sold at the highest prices and shown in the most revered exhibition spaces. What place has women’s photographic work taken in this booming business? How have women provoked new discourses concerning the limitations/problems of the canon? How have women been exhibited, collected and conserved?
You are invited to submit a 500-word abstract to apply to make a presentation at the conference. Questions of interest include but are not limited to:
>> How do institution / museum collections address the equal representation of women and non-binary people? What challenges and experiences they face in this process?
>> What are the new ways to preserve and archive the women’s work in photography?
>> What can we do about the glass ceiling in the art marketplace and what effects does this market have on institutions?
>> What collaborative methods are being used or have been used between individuals and institutions for making a real change?
>> Throughout histories and including the present how have women collected, make visible, and valuable other women? How do we measure the impact of women curators and collectors in shaping the narrative of photographic history?
>> How digital technology and online tolls support the processes of visibility and preservation of women’s photographic work?
We invite submissions that investigate artistic research, curatorial and collaborative methodologies, conservation and archival concerns, as well as new theoretical and practical discussion around women’s work in photographic field. We welcome abstracts from a range of scholars, researchers, curators, archivists, and cultural producers working in and around the above mentioned areas, in different continents and at different stages of their career.
The conference will include exhibition and collection visits over a three-day period including two-day conference held at the Faculty of Fine Arts Nicolaus Copernicus University Toruń, Poland and one day visiting the exhibitions of the Vintage Photo Festival held in Bydgoszcz, Poland. We will also visit the conservation centre of the Nicolaus Copernicus University.
Beyond The Canon: exhibiting, curating and collecting photography by women
10-12 October 2025
Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Nicolaus Copernicus in Toruń, Poland
cfp deadline: 227 January 2025
Details: https://fastforward.photography/our-projects/cfp-fast-forward-conference-6-in-poland-october-2025/
Image: Janina Gardzielewska awaiting the opening of the Nicolaus Copernicus House Museum, Toruń, June 1, 1960, a photograph from the family album of Janina and Zygfryd Gardzielewski, from the collection of the University Library in Toruń
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