‘Disruption’ spearheads to Asia
Auckland Festival of Photography proudly presents, at the Pingyao International Photography Festival in China next month, part of our Disruption [raruraru] theme, a New Zealand fine art exhibition featuring Felicity Jones, Chris Leskovsek and Mark Smith.
We are delighted to be exhibiting the excellent New Zealand fine art series by Mark Smith and Felicity Jones, Cases Studies South. This series highlights the introduction of non-native fauna and flora in the early colonial settlement years and the subsequent disruption to the landscape caused by these introduced plants.
Dr Ward’s Case #1, Te Henga, 2018, Import . (From Case Studies - 2019)
Cases Studies South will be shown in Pingyao alongside a selection of black and white work by Chris Leskovsek, which speaks to the Disruption theme.
"…and all of a sudden covid happened and the world stopped. Shortly I found refuge in my photo archive which became my window to the outside. Through that process I realised how nature had impacted me in more ways than I ever imagined over the years. Then I looked closely and thought that, sadly, it takes a hard hit like a pandemic for us to realise how much we need nature yet how much damage we have caused... and the clock keeps ticking. " Chris Leskovsek.
Chris Leskovsek - From his 'Disrupt' selection
Chris shoots in moody black and white, his photographs providing insight to an outsider’s view of New Zealand, disruptive to the image of sun, sea and surf the city normally projects. Photography has been a way for him to explore and document his new country, New Zealand as a Chilean immigrant. His street photography exploring Auckland for two years culminated in the self-published photo zines, Observations.
Watch our archive video of their Festival lightbox show in Freyberg Square here.
“One of AFP’s key strategic outcomes is to inspire the imagination, to raise the profile of New Zealand photographic excellence by supporting emerging, mid-career and established New Zealand photographers,” Auckland Festival of Photography Trust says. “AFP is a founding member of the Asia Pacific Photoforum since 2010 and celebrates its 12th anniversary in 2022, whilst this exhibition was originally conceived and specifically curated for our June Festival’s ‘Disruption’ theme, we are pleased to include some new works at the Pingyao International Photography Festival to support strategic leverage of our partnerships with the Asia Pacific Photoforum and provide international exposure for the New Zealand artists in our programme.”
Pingyao is the world’s largest photography Festival and this is the 8th exhibition the Auckland Festival of Photography has presented within their annual international programme.
