Urbanautica

VOICES FROM THE GROUND

by Steve Bisson

Urbanautica is a proud Blurring the Lines program partner—an international academic network boosting dialogue, fostering talent, and awarding graduations' works since 2016. The last edition had Yining He as the guest curator. As always, numerous projects from different schools around the world were awarded. Some of these talents have already been introduced with specific conversations: Vanessa Cowling, Jade Carr-Daley, and Vincent Zanni. In this article, we are glad to showcase some impactful projects of the 2023 edition, each one a testament to the power of sustainability in shaping a brighter future.

© Emme Pretorius from 'Unravelling: Photographic Explorations of Mending the Forest'

Unravelling: Photographic Explorations of Mending the Forest looks at the ‘unravelling’, historical and current degradation, fragmentation and fading of the Garden Route Afrotemperate forests of South Africa. Through this project Emme Pretorius (graduated from University of Cape Town, South Africa) also explored metaphoric attempts to ‘fix’ this forest. With the use of mending/sewing the fragmented pieces of photographed forest together, this ‘fixing’ navigates her relationship to the forest and desire to rectify the damage done. It is also a deeply personal exploration. Having grown up in the Garden Route, wandering in these magical forests, Emme Pretorius have a close relationship to them. In this project she reflects on this relationship and the damage she might do these forests unknowingly, by also merely being part of the current consumerist culture. To explore this she tracks my extensive walks through these forests as maps, tear these routes into some of the photographs and sew them back together in red. The photographs are made with medium and large format film cameras, developed in the darkroom and handprinted onto expired photographic paper in fragments and then sewn together by hand. The expired photographic paper, which is unable to make a true white or true black, results in grey and fogged prints. This speaks to the current state of these forests, as ghosts of what once was, faded in comparison to what they were. This project further explores the potential of photography to evoke an understanding of environmental degradation through working with, and pushing, the very materiality of the photograph. This is done especially through the use of film negatives, stitched together, as artworks in themselves.

© Emme Pretorius from 'Unravelling: Photographic Explorations of Mending the Forest'

Hugarangur is an Icelandic word that can be translated as mind ache or something that bothers the mind. The book Hugarangur is a personal response from Guðrún Sif Ólafsdóttir (graduated from Ljósmyndaskólinn School of Photography, Reykjavik, Iceland) on ecological challenges that we are facing today. Photographs of children captured in their own feelings along with photographs from Icelandic nature captured on expeditions where feelings were allowed to take over, either positive or negative. Says the author "I worry about the future on earth for my children. I'm sad how fast the glaciers in Iceland are melting, how forests and unspoiled nature are getting smaller by day and I don't like biodiversity and species being in danger of extinction. I suffer from climate grief and climate anxiety and when pushing myself out of the rabbit hole of depression I have learned that one form in dealing with that issue for individuals is to be more connected to nature. Visit nature more often, learn more about it, care better for it, gain healing power from it, give back and just overall grow more love in our hearts for nature. In the journey of making this project a glimpse of hope was found. I believe our children and elements of nature will work better together than previous generations for a better future on earth with stronger mutual connections."

© Guðrún Sif Ólafsdóttir from 'Hugarangur'

© Guðrún Sif Ólafsdóttir from 'Hugarangur'

© Guðrún Sif Ólafsdóttir from 'Hugarangur'

In Order To Bloom by Laura Foster (graduate from University of the West of England, Bristol, UK) is a body of work telling the story of the complexity and strength of motherhood, coinciding with the ongoing battle against the disease of addiction. Told through visual translation of conversations between two young women, who have witnessed their mothers struggle with alcohol dependence throughout their lives. Focusing on the themes of mother-daughter relationships and healing, the work portrays the raw and truthful story of the disease while aiming to fight harmful stereotypes of addicts, and to start the vital, yet so often avoided, conversations around the subject. Through a multitude of mediums, as visually complex as the story being told, In Order To Bloom brings you behind closed doors into the world of families facing the struggle of living with alcoholism. Portrayed through childhood memories, those sweet and distorted, visual depictions of trauma, healing mechanisms and mother-daughter connections. Weaving together fragments of the lives of two young women and assembling a greater narrative, creating a space for anyone to reflect on their own experiences.