UNESCO Transcultura Programme Call to Young Caribbean Photographers

The Programme Transcultura: Integrating Cuba, the Caribbean and the European Union through Culture and Creativity, funded by the European Union and implemented by the UNESCO Regional Office in Havana, has partnered with La Fábrica – a cultural management enterprise that develops projects linked to creativity, design and the arts – to offer up to fifteen (15) young photographers from the Caribbean the opportunity to present their photographic work and connect with outstanding curators, cultural managers and photographers from Spain and the world in this important European festival.

PHotoESPAÑA is a photography festival with a strong social focus, which transforms Madrid and Spain into hubs for the global photography community each year. Since its inception in 1998, PHotoESPAÑA, promoted by the Fundación Contemporánea and organized by La Fábrica, has emerged as an international reference thanks to the work and involvement of specialists of the artistic, cultural and political spheres, the collaboration of institutions and the public’s participation.

For its 2024 edition, ‘Perpetuum Mobile’, PHotoESPAÑA’s main theme will be ‘perpetual motion’, symbolizing photography’s dynamic nature and it being one of the most democratic artistic expressions. It underscores photography as one of the most inclusive artistic mediums, championed by PHotoESPAÑA as a platform that amplifies voices and addresses social issues often overlooked. By means of an inclusive visual dialogue, the festival aims to shed light on actors and themes that are commonly marginalized or rendered invisible.

Objectives

• The primary objectives of this collaborative action between the UNESCO Transcultura Programme and its association with La Fábrica and the International Festival of Photography and Visual Arts – PHotoESPAÑA — are to:
  • offer young female and male photographers from the Caribbean the opportunity to showcase their portfolios at one of the premier and most influential European festivals in the photography sector;
  • facilitate the creation of professional networks and opportunities for collaboration among female and male photographers from the Caribbean with their European peers, through tailor-made spaces for interaction (digital exhibitions, portfolio viewings, tours of photographic studios and laboratories, etc.);
  • strengthen professional competencies (artistic, managerial, and business) of the participating Caribbean female/male photographers through training workshops — before (online sessions) and during the event (in-person sessions), designed through an immersive methodology that harnesses the event’s general cultural context.

Through this call and joint action for cultural exchange and cooperation, the UNESCO Transcultura Programme will:

• Cover the costs (a return trip in economy class, airport pick-up and drop-off, including at the city of origin, visa costs ― if necessary ―, accommodation in a 3-star hotel – or similar – in Madrid, Spain, 3 meals a day and daily transportation  ̶ if necessary – for international mobility to Madrid, Spain, from 27 May to 5 June (10 nights) for a maximum of 15 young photographers from the Caribbean, representing at least two of the three linguistic zones covered by the Transcultura Programme (English, French and Spanish).
• Facilitate the interaction of the Caribbean photographers with a specialised and general public through digital presentations of the artists’ work, professional networking sessions – portfolio viewings with curators and international exponents of photography, tours of European artists’ studios, production spaces and creative laboratories, and meetings with their hosts, as well as training workshops – before (online sessions) and during the event (in-person sessions) – tailor-made for Caribbean photographers.
• Support the artists’ international visibility by means of press conferences, actions promoting their work, the distribution of a brochure with their profile and professional biography, and personal meetings with their European peers, among other activities designed to familiarise them with the European photography sector.
• This initiative will provide young photographers with new tools and professional connections to develop and expand their careers.

Eligibility Criteria

• Young photographers from the Caribbean, between 18 and 35 years, who are citizens and legal residents of any of the seventeen Caribbean countries in the geographical scope of the Transcultura Programme: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

For more information, visit UNESCO.