Deadline: May 15, 2022
Theme: Masquerades: Drawn to Metamorphosis
Curator: Ji-Yoon Han

MASCARADES. L’ATTRAIT DE LA MÉTAMORPHOSE
The 2023 edition of MOMENTA Biennale de l’image will explore the dynamics of visibility and invisibility that shape representations of the self and the other, between mutation, exposure and concealment, separation and fusion. At the core of the curatorial proposal dwells the notion of mimicry. Looking into the image as an agent of metamorphosis, the theme calls for an exploration of theatricality and of the moving lines that today are redefining gestures of appropriation and disguise. Identities will also be addressed in relation to animal, plant, and technological mimicry. The biennale will foster a dialogue among artists whose works probe the functions of the image, between representation and metamorphosis, and seek to (re)set in motion our understanding of identities and differences in the social space and in intimate experiences of otherness.

TYPES OF WORKS BEING SOUGHT
We are looking for works by Canadian artists that explore the potential for mimicry and metamorphosis in identities (whether human or not). For the different exhibitions, we wish to investigate multiple perspectives including, but not limited to: mimicry (in its transversality), metamorphosis, masquerade, visibility processes, invisibilization, camouflage, alteration of the self, becoming image, and more.

We are interested in works that employ photographic and videographic languages, which may take diverse forms such as installations, three-dimensional works, or experience-based works. We will favour newly produced works or works that haven’t been exhibited in the province of Quebec and/or Montreal.

We are soliciting only artists’ works that respond to the theme Masquerades. We are not seeking curatorial proposals. This call for submissions is addressed only to Canadian citizens or permanent residents.

Submissions must be sent by email only (in English or French), by no later than May 15, 2022, at 11:59 PM, to: soumission2023@momentabiennale.com

All submissions in compliance with the instructions described herein and received by the deadline will be carefully reviewed by the curator and MOMENTA. Since we receive a very large number of proposals, MOMENTA will contact only the applicants whose file has been selected.

MOMENTA Biennale de l’image gratefully acknowledges the generous support of its partners: Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Conseil des arts de Montréal, Ville de Montréal, Gouvernement du Québec, and Government of Canada

Submission guidelines

MOMENTA Biennale de l’image is delighted to announce the appointment of Ji-Yoon Han as curator for its 18th edition, which will take place in September and October 2023. Building upon a theme titled Masquerades: Drawn to Metamorphosis, curator Ji-Yoon Han will explore the dynamics of visibility and invisibility that shape representations of the self and the other from the metamorphic potentials of mimicry. The exhibitions, the publication, and the public programs will be organized around this theme.

MASQUERADES: DRAWN TO METAMORPHOSIS
By: Ji-Yoon Han

We’ve all experienced that gap between who we think we are and how others perceive us. We’ve all felt the friction between the identity assigned to us and the one we construct for ourselves. We: that is, you and me—as well as others, human or not. Starting from this premise, MOMENTA 2023 will explore the dynamics of visibility and invisibility that shape representations of the self and the other. Individuals are constantly recorded, formatted, fixed as same and identical, so here’s the urgent question: how do we (re)set in motion our understanding of identities and differences in the social space and in intimate experiences of otherness?

The notion of mimicry serves as the main driving force for developing the biennale. Mimicry designates the aptitude to “do as if”: to imitate (do the same), which involves first and foremost the capacity to transform (unmake) oneself by blurring the borders that define the edges of beings and things. Transversally, mimicry concerns human behaviour, the experience of all living things (animal and plant mimicry), and technological modelling (machine-learning mimicry). It situates us in the interstice between the self and the other, linking them and leading them to melt into one another. It is precisely the potential for metamorphoses inscribed in this interstice that MOMENTA 2023 wishes to embrace with the title Masquerades.

The image has a decisive role to play in these operations of mutation, of exposure and concealment, of separation and fusion. It is an ideal tool for seeing, experiencing, and testing perceptions of the self. The theme of mimicry thus calls for an exploration of theatricality and of the virtuality of the mask, whose performance is facilitated and stimulated by technical images. In this sense, the biennale will pay particular attention to the moving lines that today are redefining gestures of appropriation and disguise: how are identities played and outwitted? And who can possess light of the spectacle of identity?

Beyond its function of representation, the image is also an agent of mimetic metamorphosis. Doing like the other, taking oneself for another, or seeing oneself as another is to “become image.” In a reality that indeed seems to be devoured by images, mimicry takes on a unique significance, as borne out in camouflage strategies that have emerged to cope with generalized institutional and corporate surveillance. As a consequence of the demand for the right to invisibility and anonymity, the face—a fundamental aspect of identity—is erased, replaced, or even disfigured. Might this not also be the expression of a more ambiguous desire to “blend into the background”?

The disruption of perception, especially visual, is at the core of mimetic scenarios. Who is looking at whom in my encounter with a chameleon, a stranger, an artificial intelligence? What about the feelings of incongruity, immersion, sinking, and vertigo, or even intoxication, produced by mimicry? The biennale will foster a dialogue among artists whose works seize on these operators of ambiguity and of entangled gazes. The exhibitions will provide a fresh look at the issues involved with mimicry and the alteration of identities by exploring the functions of the image, between representation and metamorphosis. Beyond the instability of identity that is thus brought to light, might these intersubjective experiences lead us to reimagine our commonalities and what creates a sense of community?

CURATOR
Ji-Yoon Han lives and works in Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang / Montreal. In her often interdisciplinary curatorial projects, she seeks to reclaim the embeddedness and relevance of the visual arts in multilayered contexts that are themselves in transformation. Previously a curator at Fonderie Darling (2017–20), she organized exhibitions of works by Cynthia Girard-Renard, Barbara Steinman, Javier González Pesce, and Guillaume Adjutor Provost, as well as a performative cycle on listening and sound art practices. She has contributed to monographs on Geneviève Cadieux and Louise Robert. In her PhD dissertation, she investigated how images competed between 1929 and 1936, articulating photography, surrealism, and the nascent cultures of the illustrated press and advertising. She is currently a guest researcher for the Photography and Commission project, with the support of Les amis du Centre Pompidou, Paris.

MOMENTA 2023 will encourage conversations, encounters, and exchanges initiated by a selection of artists from all over the world, with particular focus on artists from Quebec and Canada. Produced in collaboration with numerous exhibition partners, many exhibitions will present the work of more than twenty artists in total. The exhibitions will be accompanied by a publication and an extended program of activities for the public.

Press release
Photo of the curator

MOMENTA Biennale de l’image  is proud to join forces with the International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA) to present two film programs by Lebanon-born artist and curator Joyce Joumaa, given carte blanche as part of FIFA 2022 from March 15 to 27.

For the International Festival of Films on Art‘s 40th edition, Joyce Joumaa presents two film programs regarding the ways in which we create relations. Titled Warm Regards and Are you not coming?, each program offers a perspective, both foreign and familiar, on distance, the one and same that defined our daily lives during the pandemic.

Available throughout the festival, Joyce Joumaa’s carte blanche will be showcased online on ARTS.FILM, FIFA’s webcasting platform.

MOMENTA Biennale de l’image has been partners with the International Festival of Films on Art for the past four consecutive years. Presenting contemporary video art and art films is at the core of the biennale’s mission, as well as guiding and supporting emerging curators.