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04 March 2016 > 25 March 2016 Kindly invited to the opening of the exhibition "The Red Dawns' Objective – The Red Dawns Festival between 2013-2016" by Rebeka Bernetič, on Friday, 4th March 2016 at 7pm. The exhibition is a part of 17th International Feminst & Queer Festival Red Dawns. Opening hours between 4th - 7th March: 3pm - midnight, 8th March: 3pm - 8pm.
For the duration of the international feminist and queer Red Dawns festival, Rebeka Bernetič, a young artist who has operated as the main documentary festival photographer since 2013, will exhibit at the Alkatraz Gallery. The exhibition is her diploma thesis in the field of photography which she has recently defended at the Higher Vocational College Sežana. Her diploma thesis is directly linked to the Red Dawns festival and spatially to the Alkatraz Gallery, as the exhibition has been created especially for it. The title itself is transparent – the exhibition encompasses a presentation of the events at the festival, captured by the camera lens. Her photographic selection will show the efforts of the Red Dawns collective volunteers, emphasizing the most symbolic festival events, interesting performances, lectures, the moments of collective action, socializing, the sharing of ideas and confrontations; the images, often concealed from the festival-goers, hidden in the same way as the extensive organizational efforts of the team Rebeka has been a part of since 2013.
Rebeka Bernetič will present her path over the years, the transformation from a “photography lover” approach to a professional one or, as she likes to put it, from uncertainty to assertiveness. This will be her first extensive solo exhibition. It will emphasize the importance and positive impact of the collective support of a temporary community, the feminist-queer contra-public (Tea Hvala, Rdečke razsajajo, 2010), which has accepted her into its world. With her carefully selected motifs, subjects, colours and content, the author aims to achieve harmony between photography, gallery space and the event’s visual message. She sees the project as a combination of the study of photography and feminism, specifically in the context of the Red Dawns festival. She is inspired by those rare events of short duration in which the light conjures up a special, surreal atmosphere, where everyday ambience assumes a different form. The viewers will thus have an opportunity to see an inseparable intertwining of culture, music, art, activism, politics and mingling, created and encouraged by everyone involved with the festival.
And that is not all – according to the author’s concept, the exhibition should dynamically transform during the festival, as she will be adding photographs of the currently unfolding 17th Red Dawns festival onto the panels, especially put up for this occasion in the centre of the gallery. We shall invite visitors to revisit the gallery to witness the process of in situ exhibition creation with Rebeka Bernetič printing day-time and night-time festival impressions in the early afternoon hours during the festival. The visitors will be able to reserve the photographs and – in exchange for voluntary contributions – take them home after the exhibition, in memory of the moments they’ve experienced at the festival. This can be understood as the author’s statement in support of the festival, since she has decided to forward the collected voluntary contributions to the budget of the Red Dawns, to enable the continuation of the festival in the future.
In her diploma thesis – the carefully thought-out project has occupied the author for almost a year – she has developed a deep insight into the various phases of her own development as a reporting photographer within the festival, and has conceptually prepared a retrospective exhibition of documentary photographs ranging from 2013 to 2016. According to the author, the exhibition represents ideal evidence of how a photographer can achieve excellent results, especially within the Red Dawns collective, which she considers to be a creative, open, and safe work environment. The latter continuously offers moral and (symbolic) material support to participants, evoking contentment in all who have – from the distant year of 2000 until now – taken part in the organization of the Red Dawns festival. It is proof that the enormous amount of invested voluntary and unpaid efforts successfully creates a safe environment for our visitors, the performers and, last but not least, the organizers.
This is a very professionally produced art project, which should thrill the coincidental passers-by, and even more so the festival visitors. The changes in the photographs testify to the distinct technological and authorial development throughout the years, as well as to Rebeka's enrapturing and admirable enthusiasm that remains unspoilt. The exhibition shall also serve as an excellent reminder to the organizers, that we have – despite literally burning out – also experienced wonderful moments and managed to carry out the events we can be rightfully proud of. The project of Rebeka Bernetič can only be seen as a tribute to the festival that had inspired her so much she has even created her diploma thesis through its very prism.
Ana Grobler
