About

Focusing on exchange with China, LOOK Photo Biennial 2019 uses the evolving language of photography to unlock international dialogue. The programme sets out to bring different cultures into conversation to reflect on shifting national identities, worldwide environmental issues and how we can communicate effectively.

Worldwide, many countries are reinforcing their borders and turning increasingly inwards, but a collective international awareness is also on the rise. Global issues must be tackled from a sense of global belonging; this edition of LOOK Photo Biennial seeks to activate this belonging.

As a medium, photography is equipped for this: images are shareable, accessible and can transcend borders, languages and cultures. LOOK Photo Biennial 2019 is formed of two ‘chapters’. Most of the biennial takes place in Liverpool, but there are also exhibitions in Manchester, Preston and Shanghai.

To navigate the biennial, we have developed three interwoven strands: TRANSPLANT, TRANSLATE and TRANSITION. Chapter one, TRANSPLANT, (June – September) looks at attempts to re-root the past into the present, focusing on the friction between the two. Chapter two (October – December) has two strands: TRANSLATE looks at how the overwhelming present can be broken down and better understood through photography, and TRANSITION incorporates projects and talks that can give us the perspective we need to forecast and shape the future. Throughout the programme, we also seek to champion women working in photography, who have historically been underrepresented.

LOOK Photo Biennial 2019 takes place across Liverpool, The Wirral, the wider North West and in Shanghai. It is delivered by Open Eye Gallery, and funded by Arts Council England, Liverpool City Council and The Foyle Foundation. It is delivered in partnership with Wirral Borough of Culture, University of Salford Art Collection, Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art and Redeye. Venue partners include Victoria Gallery & Museum, Museum of Liverpool, Williamson Gallery & Museum, and the University of Central Lancashire. Further funding support comes from Spectrum and Colloids.