Futures Nordic Talents - Copenhagen Photo Festival

FUTURES NORDIC TALENTS, 3.-13.6.2021

COPENHAGEN PHOTO FESTIVAL, REFSHALEØEN, KØBENHAVN

Futures Nordic Talents is a new programme focusing on Nordic talent, created by Copenhagen Photo Festival and FUTURES - a photography platform co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. In January 2021, an open talent search was launched for upcoming and recent graduates in art or documentary photography residing in the Nordics. Five artists were chosen to participate in a series of activities in the spring, including portfolio reviews and Master Classes with leading experts. 

The five finalists’ works will also be shown at the festival’s exhibition park at Refshaleøen, 3 -30 June, 2021. The finalists will exhibit their works in solo Camera Houses, designed and built by Bachelor architecture students from the Institute of Architecture and Design, Royal Danish Academy as well as take part in artist talks and activities at the festival.

The FUTURES NORDIC TALENTS finalists are:

Essi Maaria Orpana (Finland), Io Sivertsen (Norway), Nanna Navntoft (Danmark), Lars Dyrendom (Sweden) and Hrafn Jónsson (Krummi) (Iceland).

Two artists also got special mentions for their applications from the Program Committee: Laura Konttinen (Finland) and Marie Anine Møller (Denmark) 

Essi Maaria Orpana (b.1988) is a visual artist based in Helsinki with a background in photography and video. Orpana’s work Such is the Silence (2019-2021), is inspired by visits to abandoned houses in Valencia, Spain, addressing our corporeal connection to time and place. In this series of work, Orpana poses for and with the camera, creating a narrative and tension between the place and her own presence. From the layers of time lurking in the corners of the rooms, Such is the Silence also addresses questions of existence, identity and memories: Whose past is present when spending time in these houses? What happened in these rooms a hundred years ago? Such is the Silence is being presented at Copenhagen Photo Festival as an installation consisting of photographs, a video, wallpaper and found objects—creating a story-like installation where each part is in a dialogue with the other. 

Essi Maaria Orpana’s participation in the exhibition is being supported by the Finnish Cultural Institute in Denmark and FRAME Finland.

Copenhagen Photo Festival is the largest photo festival in the Nordic region. The festival returns on June 3-30, with more than 30 exhibitions spread all over galleries, museums and art institutions in Copenhagen and southern Sweden. Copenhagen Photo Festival will be brimming with creativity, experimentation and exhibitions. At our festival centre carefully selected artists turn a 10,000 m2 wasteland into an innovative exhibition park filled with photography and lens-based art. The exhibition park connects the art experience with social events and open-air music supplied by DJ’s. 

The festival looks at photography seen through three main focal points: Framing Identity, Framing Society and Framing Vision. These focal points capture the individual, society and art via exhibitions, workshops, talks and more.  The festival presents a programme of high quality – artistically and conceptually – building bridges between fine art and documentary photography.