EXPOSICIÓN:
BEGO ANTÓN
About Witches, Dogs, Elves and Other Fantastical Realities
29.10.2021 - 13.02.2022
Curator: Erika Goyarrola
Acting like a window on territories that seemingly lie halfway between reality and fiction, this exhibition presents four projects by the artist Bego Antón that reveal stories, worlds and practices that may appear to be exotic to our eyes, minority stories or those directly situated on the margins of what is normal.
Antón came to the medium of photography from journalism, which is to some extent evident in the documentary aim of her work, the way in which she seeks, works on and reveals the surprising realities that are on display in this exhibition. But thanks to the use of a personal language, she has shaped a way of looking at things that allows her to capture the reality on which she works and simultaneously to integrate this from fields that are in principle as disparate as the intimate and the fantastical. This aspect can be observed in one of her most notable traits: the ability to imbue her work with the fascination with which she collects and recreates the various stories and realities of both traditional and contemporary popular culture, around which she builds her projects. This photographer’s approach to these realities has a way of proceeding that is akin to anthropological work, although very different from an ethnographic or folklorist perspective: she collects traditions and testimonies of a variety of practices and activities that in one way or another create communities around their own rituals.
The distance of a documentary eye coexists with recreation and staging in her work as it portrays elements that can be characterised as strange, improbable or unreal, leading us into realities where the fantastical seemingly occurs quite naturally. This fantastical is sometimes formed by wonderful or supernatural elements, such as in Haiek Danak Sorginak [All of Them Witches], which deals with the figure of witches, or The Earth is Only a Little Dust Under Our Feet, which portrays the magical creatures of Icelandic folklore. On other occasions, the fantastical is present without any need for the supernatural in observing such surprising practices as the canine dance competitions documented in Everybody Loves to ChaChaCha or the sporting competitions of young female riders and their toy horses in The Gallop project.
THE ARTIST:
Bego Antón (Bilbao, 1983)
Bego Antón studied journalism at the University of the Basque Country and specialised in documentary photography in Barcelona. Her work has been published in Lens in The New York Times, National Geographic, Le Monde, CNN Photos and The British Journal of Photography, among others, and it has been exhibited in Spain, New York, Washington, Switzerland and Germany.
She has received grants from BilbaoArte, Vegap, Spain USA Foundation, EEA Grants from the Norwegian Embassy in Madrid, Biscay Provincial Council, Etxepare Basque Institute and Montehermoso Cultural Centre in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
She was chosen to participate in World Press Photo’s Joop Swart Masterclass in 2014 and has received many awards, including the PHM Women Photographers Grant (2017), Second Prize Istanbul Photo Awards Singles (2016), Prix Levallois Finalist (2015) and PhotoEspaña Revelation Award (2017).
EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES:
Commented guided tours
Sundays
Free
5.30pm in Basque / 6.30pm in Spanish
Prior booking is required by calling 943 3251937, at the Sala or writing to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Family Workshops
Family Workshops for accompanied participants aged 5-11
Every Saturday from 4.00 to 5:30 hours.
Price: €3
Prior booking is required by calling 943 3251937, at the Sala or writing to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
PUBLIC PROGRAME:
Screening of the film Häxan (1922) by Benjamin Christensen. Silent.
19 November, 6.30 pm
Sala Imanol Larzabal at Lugaritz Culture House
Free entrance subject to capacity.
Técnicas para Fotografiar lo invisible [Techniques to Photograph the Invisible] masterclass with Bego Antón
20 November, 10:30 am to 5.30 pm
Medialab, Tabakalera, 2nd floor
Spanish. Bookings on Tabakalera website
Conversation between Bego Antón and Sabina Urraca
17 December, 6.00 pm
Sala Ruiz Balerdi, 4th floor of Tabakalera.
Click here to get your free ticket.
Spanish | Limited Aphorus
To access the room it will be mandatory to present the entrance.
GUIDE OF EXHIBITION:
Discard here the guide of exhibition:
CATALOGUE:
BEGO ANTÓN
About Wiches, Dogs, Elves and Other Fantastical Realities
Edition in Basque, Spanish and English.
Price: 35€ (VAT included)
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@arteguneakutxa