Man is not able to live without value judgments, which are translations of inherited meanings. They were once mystical or divine, but today their paradigms, which tend to be global, are experience and sensitivity. And that is why it has been so difficult to apprehend the systematic disintegration of the planet on which we live, and all the international community that we have been trying to build. Political irrationality, governed by finance, rejects the evidence of a global crisis since 1997, (Kyoto Protocol) and today, it is only through private and individual initiatives that this limit issue is imposed. Initiatives that replicate and flourish in this vast field of action, which is the culture of Globalisation. Globalisation grew in the United States, already trapped by the open conflict of the ideological blocs and Star Wars, and moving away from the utopia of global village, that the Canadian sociologist McLuhan, under the influence of new technology, predicted that would become the society of the future. Working as a community of intense oral communication where loneliness would be banned, it was the utopia of the Sixties of the last century, such as in the old societies without writing. Globalisation was, above all, economic and financial, in an unequal system of exploiting advantages. With the globalisation of the Internet, there was an acculturation of trends, brands or pandemics, habits and gestures of industrialisation, leisure, the idea of progress versus the right to happiness and, of course, an individualism of a strong self-esteem. The critical sense of contemporary art reflects this sum of influences, this overthrow of social utopias. The global paradigm is no longer that of communication, but that of information that brings power, in other words, the world has become a series of algorithms and life turned into data processing. The visual art that partially or totally joined the technological revolution is the micro world of that transformation and, as it seems, will become the creative record of the awareness on the problems of this critical nowadays. Genesis is all this: the origin or creation and, as in all creations and also in art, genesis succeeds destruction. With each creation new meanings emerge, such as other value judgments, other scientific theories, new myths, new algorithms and, insidiously, also old mistakes and revivals, which delay the meanings of this community of the future that, with its sloppiness and its utopias of happiness, did not want and does not want to lose them. Changes, displacements of nations, effects of catastrophe or perseverance, creation and destruction, – the alpha and omega of a culture – and which, consensually, appear to us as the essence of the new visual arts.

Encontros da Imagem – International Photography and Visual Arts Festival is pleased to invite all artists, working with the medium of photography and other visual forms (video, installation, etc.), to submit their work under the theme “Genesis” for the Discovery Awards 2020. Taking into account the success of the previous editions, the festival organizes once more this open call for the Discovery Awards 2020, thus reiterating the wish to showcase new emerging talents – national and international – promoting this way new emerging artists chosen based on the high quality of their projects.

What winners receive

• The finalists will have their work produced and exhibited at the 2020 edition;
• The finalists will have their work published in the catalogue of the 2020 edition;
• The finalists will have two nights of accommodation in Braga during the Opening Weekend on the 11th and 12th of September 2020;

About Encontros da Imagem

Encontros da Imagem, with more than thirty years of existence, is a non-profit cultural association, that promotes annually an International Photography and Visual Arts Festival in the city of Braga, Portugal. The festival celebrates classic and contemporary photography and visual arts in general by showcasing emerging and established artists. Every year Encontros da Imagem promotes an open call for the Discovery Awards, where the winners have the opportunity to exhibit their work during the festival. Encontros da Imagem also organizes an International Photography Prize – Emergentes, this prize is awarded after the Portfolio Review, which gives photographers the opportunity to show their work to an international jury, composed by commissioners, gallery owners and expert editors, thus establishing solid foundations for the promotion of their work. The festival has developed an eclectic programme. This year the theme is “Genesis”, where numerous artists emerging and established, national and international will be shown in several public and private spaces (historical and monumental buildings, museums, galleries and others). Encontros da Imagem is a cultural photographic reference in Portugal, and has reached a prominent position in the international panorama, being currently one of the oldest photography festivals in Europe.