The Imagen 83 Foundation and the Centro de la Imágen (Image Center)

The Imagen 83 Foundation and the Centro de la Imágen (Image Center)
International PhotoimagenPhoto Festival in the Dominican Republic:”Tránsitos” 2012
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, September 1, 2012

More than 29 exhibits with works by 87 artists inSanto Domingo and Santiago.Brazil will be the guest of honor. The event will take place between September 4 and September30.

This year’s event has been made possible thanks to the support of the Embassies of Brazil, Mexico, the United States, and Spain through the Spanish Cultural Center (CCE); the Ministry of Culture, and to the generous cultural support of Propagas, Nikon, Odebrecht, of the employees and partners of the participating institutions.

The details of the International PhotoimagenPhoto Festival Dominican Republic “Tránsitos” 2012, whose guest of honor is Brazil, were provided during a press conference which was held in the showroom of Autogermánica.

Photoimagenwill showcase the works of over 87 artists from Brazil, Mexico, Haiti, Colombia, Costa Rica, among others and, of course,the Dominican Republic. The opening is on September 4 at the Museum of Visual Arts in the city of Santo Domingo.

The main theme of the officialevent is“tránsito”. Ms. Mayra Johnson, Director General of Photoimagen, Carlos AceroRuiz, Director General of General Art at the Festival, along with Sara Hermann,have worked on 18 group and 5 singleexhibitions. Meanwhile, the Curator of the Hijos de la Tierra de Brasil (Children of the Landof Brazil)exhibit,and the country that is the guest of honor, is the importantBrazilian poet and photography curator Diogenes Moura.

Imagen 83 Foundation and the Centro de la Imagenhave united efforts to organize workshops, conferences, group discussions, and a series of filmson the subject,which takes place at the Cinematheque. The Festival welcomes Descubrimientos PHE.
The agenda of the event includes guided tours, photo contests and the popular FotoculturaRally by the CCE.

The programming for all presentations and activities will be posted at all art locations, in thePeriódico Hoy (NewspaperToday), on our website www.centrodelaimagenrd.org, and on the Facebook page Photoimagen.

A little history

In 1983 I organized the first group of women photographers, and in 1989 I visited Mexico City to attend Fotoseptiembreand visit the Image Center, and that is where I got the desire to do this at home. In 2003, on the 20th anniversary of the group’s organization, together with some of the original members and some new amateur photographers, and after having had a conversation with Evelyn Espaillat, we re-launched the group again. However, in my head I still had the idea of ??the Festival and the Centro de la Imagen, and so during the 20thanniversary of the group I organizedthe Imagen 83 Foundation, a non-profit organization whose only purpose is to develop and disseminate Dominican photography. In 2004 Laura Vicini heard about the project and donated a XVI century house in the colonial town to the Foundation to start the project. The project culminated with Vicini’shelp for the restoration of the house in what is now the Image Center, whose director is Carlos AceroRuiz, art curator. The Centro de la Imagen is a living space that was open in 2011, where exhibitions, workshops, seminars on photography take place.

The Festival started in 2006 and until 2008 it was an annual event. However, we realized the cost and work that were involved and that year we transformed it into a biennial event, which took place in 2010 and now, in 2012, we are celebrating its V edition. Spontaneously the Festival became an international event in 2007.

For the sixth time, Santo Domingo will be the perfect venue for photography. For a whole month hundreds of men and women photographers will be willing to see and create pictures in various cultural locations, walls and streets throughout the city.

The sixth edition of Photoimagenwill be celebrated September 4 through September 30, during the month of photography in the Dominican Republic. Its agenda includes photo exhibitions and workshops by international guests, solo and group exhibitions, and workshops and conferences on the subject. This year Brazil will be the guest of honor and the theme is Tránsitos.

25 locationsare housing the works of 80 photo artists that have been selected to participate in this edition of Photoimagen.

International guests

Renowned Brazilian curator, Diogenes Moura, brings an excellent sample of 10 Brazilian artists, with the support of the Embassy of Brazil and Odebrecht. He will also give a lecture during the program of activities.

The work of Colombian photographer Erika Diettes, one of the most recognized contemporary photographers in 2012, will also be exhibited during the Festival.

Within the internationalscope of the Festival, the creation of OnofreBachiller, from Spain, becomes highly attractive. He will teacha workshop at the Centro de la Imagen with the support of CCE.

Also, there will be group exhibitions that have been created by women and men photographers from Central America and from the host country, the Dominican Republic.

Thus, the event seeks not only to open a creative space for photographers and image lovers, but also, which is of special interest for the Festival, to generate a positive get-together between local citizens and the photographic exhibitsthey might run into on the streets during the daysthat the event will last.

FotoculturaRally

During the Photo Culturarally, hundreds of enthusiasts will gather at the CCE, at 8:00 in the morning. They will be assigned a theme for the day at the time of their departure. In the end, the top three will be selected to receive awards. Among the awards there will be a professional Nikon camera.