The 18th Noorderlicht International Photofestival in Groningen: METROPOLIS

11 September through 9 October 2011

Venues:Der Aa-kerk | A-Kerkhof 2Minerva Academie Praedinius | Praediniussingel 59Old Post Office | Munnekeholm 1Noorderlicht Fotogalerie | Akerkhof 12Het Filiaal | Akerkhof 10 (not yet confirmed)
Open Tuesday to Sunday, 11 am - 6 pm
Admission: 10 euros, various discounts


metropolis | city life in the urban age

Since the beginning of the 21st century, more than half of the world’s population live in urban areas. In two successive exhibitions Noorderlicht is examining the consequences of this development for both the countryside and the city.
After Land – Country Life in the Urban Age in 2010, from 11 September through 9 October 2011 the photo festival Metropolis – City Life in the Urban Age will be seen in Groningen.
This multifaceted and innovative exhibition will provide insight into a process that touches everyone, directly or indirectly.“The” city doesn’t exist. Although cities are at the heart of modern society – certainly now that 3.3 billion people are packed onto 3 percent of the earth’s surface – they are not all exactly the same in nature. The city is an feverish economic, cultural and social nerve centre; it is the place where the dreams of architects and urban planners come to life or collide with recalcitrant reality.
Cities grow wildly, sometimes anarchically, and swallow up everything in the vicinity. They suck in people who – successfully, or in vain – are in search of a better life. In the midst of an oppressive massiveness, people are still able to carve out a small space for themselves and find their own fulfilment. The city is a place that offers opportunities and dashes hopes, where you can be seen everywhere and at all times but where you can equally well be completely alone.From Michael Wolf’s traumatised faces in the Tokyo subway to Michael Najjar’s sterile futuristic urban landscapes, on the basis of work by more than eighty photographers from The Netherlands and other countries, in Metropolis Noorderlicht exposes the many sides of the city. To do this, Noorderlicht breaks new ground, both in terms of content and design. The six ‘chapters’ and the unusual arrangement in the main locations offer space to the city, and bring across Noorderlicht’s view of the city in an insightful and perceptive manner.Metropolis is a city of images, an exhibition about the soul of urban society.

main exhibitionis a novel in six chapters. These tell the exciting, shocking, wonderful and overpowering story of City Life in the Urban Age.
1 Astonished - Verwonderd
2 Astray - Verdwaald
3 Home - Thuis
4 Deficient - Lacune
5 Machinery - Raderwerk
6 Assembly - Assemblage

satellite programmePhoto exhibitions at more than 40 locations in the city and province of Groningen. Their content is assembled by the galleries themselves.

photographers metropolisAbir Abdullah | Evan Abramson | Martin Adolfsson | Anas Al-Shaikh | Mehraneh Atashi | Pablo Balbontín & Luca Marinelli | Giorgio Barrera | Matteo Bastianelli | Nina Berman | Peter Bialobrzeski | Jodi Bieber | Julio Bittencourt | Kendrick Brinson | Giacomo Brunelli | Gregory Buchakjian | Estan Cabigas | Alejandro Cartagena | Fracilins | Carlos Cazalis | Tiane Doan na Champassak | Rasel Chowdhury | Xavier Comas | Carole Condé & Karl Beveridge | Manal Al Dowayan | Stephen Dupont | Brad Farwell | Andreas Gefeller | Ugnius Gelguda | Reinier Gerritsen | Christoph Gielen | Ashley Gilbertson | Paul Gofferjé | Dionisio González | Nadja Groux | Kai Uwe Gundlach | Pawel Jaszczuk | Jian Jiang | Gabriel Jones | Nadav Kander | Yannis Karpouzis | Gareth Kingdon | Thomas Kneubühler | Katrin Koenning | Laura Konttinen | Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen | Marcus Koppen | Maros Krivy | Ikuru Kuwajima | Selvaprakash Lakshmanan | LawickMüller | Gina LeVay | Sebastian Liste | Martin Luijendijk | Sayed Asif Mahmud | Yves Marchant and Romain Meffre | Massimo Mastrorillo | Andreas Meichsner | Cecile Mella | Jean-Marc Meunier | Ivan Mikhaylov | Guillaume Millet | Andreas Müller-Pohle | Michael Najjar | Matthew Niederhauser | Simon Norfolk | Sherman Ong | Louie Palu | Max Pam | Ohm Phanphiroj | Olivier Pin-Fat | Dana Popa | Martin Roemers | Edith Roux | Carlos Sanchez & Jason Sanchez | Hans-Christian Schink | Christina Seely | Matt Siber | Darren Soh | Elian Somers | Will Steacy | Niels Stomps | Franky Verdickt | Munem Wasif | Shen Wei | Hans Wilschut | Michael Wolf | Devin Yalkin | Yang Yongliang | Pablo Ziccarello | Kim Zwarts |

about Noorderlicht
In 2011 the Noorderlicht Photography Foundation is organising its widely praised International Photo Festival for the eighteenth time. This festival is counted as one of the top five among the best photo festivals in the world. But Noorderlicht is more than its festival. Since 1980 Noorderlicht has been a many-sided and innovative international stage for photography, particularly in documentary genres. In its own individual manner, in this socially engaged content Noorderlicht has sought to reveal the visual beauty of photography. To this end it organises not only the annual photo festival, but also numerous exhibitions in its own photo gallery. In addition, Noorderlicht arranges photography commissions and promotes a deeper appreciation of photography by organising discussions, lectures and master classes. Noorderlicht operates with a world-wide perspective, but at the same time is strongly rooted in the North Netherlands.

Noorderlicht Photofestival, Gallery, Projects, Publisher
Akerkhof 12, 9711 JB Groningen
+31 (0)503182227
Akerkhof 12, 9711 JB Groningen
+31 (0)503182227
info@noorderlicht.com
http://www.noorderlicht.com