HOUSTON, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 10, 2016 - The debate over how to meet the challenges posed by climate change and ever-increasing globalization and industrialization has often been seen as being confined to the political or scientific realms. But artists have long been at the forefront of bringing humanity’s relationship with the changing planet to the public consciousness – and that will be on full display during FotoFest’s 16th International Biennial of Photography and Mixed Media Arts, taking place March 12 – April 24, 2016 with the central theme, CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES: Looking at the Future of the Planet.

“Confronting the ever-quickening pace of global change is a major challenge for humanity, and we must meet it with creativity and new thinking,” says Steven Evans, FotoFest Executive Director and Co-curator, with FotoFest founders Frederick Baldwin and Wendy Watriss, of the 2016 Biennial.

FOTOFEST 2016 BIENNIAL | www.fotofest.orgFor additional media inquiries please contact: Ken Fountain, FotoFest Biennial Outreach Coordinator, +1 713.223.5522 ext 15, kfountain@fotofest.orgVinod Hopson, FotoFest Communications Coordinator, +1 713.223.5522 ext 26, vhopson@fotofest.org

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ADDRESSING THE ANTHROPOCENE THROUGH ART

FotoFest 2016 Biennial March 12 - April 24, 2016, Houston, Texas USA

Jamey Stillings, #10768, 25 June, 2013. Late afternoon over Ivanpah Unit 3, with Mount Clark in th Distance. From the series The Evolution of Ivanpah Solar.Courtesy of the artist

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The exhibitions and associated programs for CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES examine the dynamics of change and the potential for creative action in a series of exhibitions, videos, films, books and educational programs with over 30 leading international artists, scientists, and environmental thinkers.

The artists’ projects address the Anthropocene – climate change; industrialization and urbanization; biodiversity; water; the use of natural and human resources; human migration; global capital, commerce and consumption; energy production; and waste.

“The coming test for human civilization, through its global and national institutions and through its patterns of everyday life, is to slow or mitigate the damage to Nature that has already occurred and which will project far into the future,” says Dr. Geof Raymer, a British sociologist and public health policy expert, who has advised the Biennial’s organizers and has written an essay in the event’s accompanying hardcover book.

“The even more Herculean task is to halt new damage, recognizing that this can only be achieved through more sustainable processes of economic activity, from farming to industry,” continues Raymer. “To use a modern idiom, this is a big stretch.” Raymer’s essay will be featured in the book alongside one by scholar Dr. Thomas E. Lovejoy, the so-called “Godfather of Biodiversity”. The two essays are presented alongside the artists’ statements and extensive color reproductions of their works.

Biennial Co-curator and FotoFest Senior Artistic Advisor Wendy Watriss says, “The exhibitions present the experiences and stories of artists who have lived and worked for many years in close proximity to the natural world. The artists’ practice is the product of rigorous engagement and research within the science, and philosophy of the topics they address”

Co-Curator and FotoFest Executive Director Steven Evans adds, “The Biennial, and its programs, occupy a space between creativity and science. They engage in a dialogue that is as concerned by questions about the future of the planet, and our place on it, as it is about creative solutions”

The artists in CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES hail from nine countries across Europe, Asia, and North and South America. Many of the artists will travel to Houston to participate in lectures, tours, and other programs during the Biennial.

One of the central exhibitions of the CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES Biennial is a survey of Canadian artist Edward Burtynsky and his 30 years of work on land, mining, energy, water, and the impacts of industrialization across the globe.

Other featured artists include Vik Muniz, a Brazilian-based photographer whose work documents the people who make their living picking through huge piles of garbage outside Sao Paulo; and Dornith Doherty, whose Archiving Eden project focuses on international seed banks and their preservation efforts in the face of climate change. Doherty is a 2016 Texas State Artist of the Year, and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to develop the Archiving Eden project around the world.

Amy Balkin, detail from The Atmospere: A Guide, 2013-2015.Courtesy of the Artist.

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FotoFest is working with prominent environmental, scientific, and academic groups including Rice University’s CENHS (Center for Energy and Environmental Research in the Human Sciences) and the Rice Building Workshop, Houston, to present programs on the Rice University campus.

FotoFest’s Literacy Through Photography (LTP) education program partnered with Artist Boat, the Galveston, Texas-based cultural and environmental education group, to create an accompanying curriculum for students in grades 3-12, that explore the health and future of the Gulf of Mexico. The curriculum is available for free.

FotoFest is partnering with a number of arts and cultural groups interested in climate change and sustainability, including Ballroom Marfa (Marfa, Texas), and the Public Concern Foundation, who will collaborate to present Marfa Dialogues/Houston, March 23-26, 2016. In March and April, FotoFest is working with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) Film Department at the Museum’s Brown Auditorium, and with the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital at MATCH (Midtown Arts and Theatre Center Houston) to present two series of prize-winning films addressing environmental concerns.

CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES: Looking at the Future of the Planet is a continuation of FotoFest’s more than 30-year commitment to presenting a platform for art and ideas. Since the early 1990s, FotoFest has addressed important environmental issues through art: The Global Environment in 1994; Celebrating Water. Looking at the Global Crisis in 2004; and The Earth in 2006.

FOTOFEST 2016 BIENNIALMAJOR INSTITUTIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL SPONSORS (as of this date)

The Brown Foundation Inc.; Texas Commission on the Arts; National Endowment for the Arts; The Cullen Foundation; The Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation; The City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance; The Winslow Foundation; Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Houston Downtown; The Wortham Foundation; National Geographic; Royal Bank of Canada; the Trust for Mutual Understanding; Judith and Gamble Baldwin; The Powell Foundation; The FotoFest Board of Directors; H-E-B; Saint Arnold Brewing Company; The Art Institute of Houston; HexaGroup; iLand Internet Solutions; The Deal Company; Silver Street Studios; Williams Tower Gallery; The Washington Avenue Arts District

MEDIA PARTNERSArt in America; Aperture Magazine; European Photography Magazine; Houston Public Media; L’Oeil de la Photographie; PaperCity Magazine; ArtHouston Magazine

FOTOFEST INTERNATIONAL Founded in 1983, FotoFest International was established to promote international awareness of museum-quality photo-based art from around the world. FotoFest is a non-profit photographic arts and education organization based in Houston, Texas. The first FotoFest Biennial was held in 1986. It is the first and longest running photographic arts festival in the United States. It is considered one of the leading international photography Biennials in the world.

As an producer of serious international photographic arts exhibitions, FotoFest is a platform for art and social issues.FotoFest is known as a showcase for the discovery and presentation of important new work and new talent from around the world. The FotoFest Biennial takes place citywide in Houston with participation from the leading art museums, art galleries, nonprofit art spaces, universities and civic spaces. The Biennial attracts an audience of 275,000 people from 34 countries. This audience includes a select group of 150 museum curators, gallerists, publishers, editors, photography collectors, directors of non-profit art spaces and international festivals from Asia, Europe, Latin America, Canada and the United States.

More information on FotoFest, and the FotoFest 2016 Biennial may be found on the FotoFest website at www.fotofest.org.