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Monday, September 11, 2017

INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY AT HILTON ARTS FESTIVAL



Africa Media Online presents World Press Photo Exhibition 2017 and Docufest Africa - presentations by leading photographers.

Africa Media Online has established a strong presence at the Hilton Arts Festival this year, hosting both the World Press Photo Exhibition 2017 and nine presentations by some of South Africa’s foremost documentary photographers and curators of significant archives, under the banner of DocuFest Africa.

The second edition of DocuFest Africa will be run at the Hilton Arts Festival. DocuFest Africa is a visual storytelling festival, presenting to the public important African documentary projects and the curation of significant African archives.

“In our work at Africa Media Online of running a picture library and digitising historic collections we are often coming across collections and work that should be seen by a wide audience. DocuFest Africa provides the opportunity for that. The interface between those recording history (the media – photographers, filmmakers and journalists) and those who become the custodians of history (heritage professionals – archivists, musicologists and librarians) we believe will inspire enduring documentary practice and is an interaction that the Festival seeks to facilitate,” says David Larsen, founder and Managing Director of Africa Media Online.

This year DocuFest Africa will be run in conjunction with the World Press Photo Exhibition 2017. Both will be held in the Centenary Centre at Hilton College. The World Press Photo Exhibition 2017 will be on display in the Raymond Slater Library and DocuFest Africa will be held in Lecture Theatre A.

A ticket to the World Press Photo Exhibition includes entrance into any of the nine DocuFest Africa presentations which present the work of leading South African photographers and curators. The line-up includes: Jodi Bieber a multiple award winning South African photographer who won the overall World Press Photo of the Year Award in 2011; Paul Weinberg, co-founder of the famous Afrapix photo agency that documented life under apartheid so extensively; and Andre Odendaal historian and former CEO of Robben Island and CEO of the Western Cape Cricket Union who has been writing the history of non-racial cricket in South Africa. The presentations will take a form of a talk and visual presentation of the work for 30-40 minutes by the photographer or curator and then there will be 20 minutes of interaction with the presenter. Be aware that there are only 100 seats in the lecture theatre and entry will be on a first come first serve basis.

The photographers highlighted at the festival are: Masixole Feni (Fri 15 at 17h30); Matt Kay (Fri 15 at 19h30); Ian Bruce Huntley and Chris Albertyn (Sat 16 at 10h00); Jodi Bieber (Sat 16 at 13h00); Siona O’Connell (Sat 16 at 16h00); Peter McKenzie (Sat 16 at 17h15); Paul Weinberg (Sat 16 at 18h30); Andre Odendaal (Sun 17 at 10h00) and Gille De Vlieg (Sun 17 at 13h00). All photographers will be present to talk about their work.

The World Press Photo Exhibition brings global audiences the very best of photojournalism and visual storytelling taken by the world’s foremost professional press, news and documentary photographers. The images on display are carefully chosen by specialist juries internationally – more than five thousand professional photographers entered more than 80,000 images. The best of the best will be on display for the World Press Photo Exhibition 2017 in the Raymond Slater Library. The Contest is a massive undertaking and the not-for-profit World Press Photo Foundation is able to achieve this, every year, because it receives support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and is sponsored worldwide by Canon.

Tickets to the World Press Photo Exhibition 2017 and consequently to any and all of the DocuFest Africa presentations will be sold on the landing of the staircase leading up to the Raymond Slater Library. Being linked events, a ticket to the World Press Photo Exhibition 2017 grants the ticket holder entry to all of the DocuFest Africa presentations.

Tickets R120 (R65 children under 16 and pensioners with a pensioners card) can also be purchased ahead of the event online, or at the door. (R40 for school groups of over 10 scholars).

The festival would not be possible without the generous support of Hilton College, Tiso Black Star, Grindrod Bank, Black Coffee, DWR, PWC, Bidvest Car Rental, Indwe Risk Services, Assitej South Africa, Loud Crowd, Sappi, Redlands Hotel, Zultrans, KZN Dept of Arts & Culture, BASA, Castle Lite, Maritzburg Sun, Caxton.

For more information visit http://www.hiltonfestival.co.za/ or like the Facebook page, Hilton Arts Festival. Follow on Twitter @HiltonFest, Instagram or download the free APP Hilton Arts Festival for both Android and IOS.