Sun 16 Aug 12:00 | Festival Website, YouTube, Social Media
Saree Tying
Puja Pandya demonstrates how to tie a saree
Meet The AIS Open Jury
The first part of the selection process will be undertaken by curator Sebah Chaudhry. The final awards will be decided by a panel led by the curator and a panel composed of judges who are experienced in the field of visual arts.
Scroll down to learn more about each of the panel members.
The Curator
Sebah Chaudhry
Sebah is a Freelance Creative Producer and Curator. She is experienced in working at international world class festivals, projects and events. She is Co-Founder and Co-Director of ReFramed, a photographic based visual arts network based in the Midlands, supporting the community and artists who are Black, Asian, or from other ethnic minorities. She is currently Project Coordinator of Picturing England’s High Streets, a Historic England funded project managed by Photoworks.
She was previously Creative Producer on an international British Council funded project with Ffotogallery, The Place I Call Home, connecting the UK to the Gulf region, culminating in 10 exhibitions from September 2019 — March 2020 in 7 countries.
From 2013 — 2017, Sebah was Coordinator at FORMAT Festival, the UK’s largest contemporary photography festival. She still works as a freelancer for FORMAT, organising the UK’s largest annual portfolio review. She also manages the Belfast Photo Festival Portfolio Review.
Sebah reviews portfolios internationally and mentors artists. She is on the selection panel for the RPS IPE 163 Open Call and the BJP Portrait of Britain 2021. Currently UK editor for thephotoexhibitionarchive.com, Berlin, Steering Group member for FORMAT Festival, Derby and Board Member, Redeye Photography Network, Manchester.The first part of the selection process will be undertaken by curator Sebah Chaudhry. The final awards will be decided by a panel led by the curator and a panel composed of judges who are experienced in the field of visual arts.
The Jury
Amak Mahmoodian
Born in Shiraz, Iran. Lives in Bristol, UK.
Amak's work questions notions of identity and home, bridging a space between personal and political. Through her journey she explores the effects of exile and distance on memory, dreams and daily life.
In 2015, she completed a practice-based doctorate in photography at the University of South Wales, having previously studied at the Art University of Tehran.
Working with images, poems and archives she looks for the lyrical realities frames in the photographs. Amak has shown her work extensively and won numerous awards.
Louise Fedotov-Clements
Co-Founder and Patron of FORMAT International photography Festival. Curator of Contemporary Art, Forestry England. Independent photography curator, writer and producer.
Currently Louise leads a national and international contemporary arts and photography programme across 1500 forests, working at the forefront of the global climate crisis and exploring the vital intersection between art, science and biodiversity through commissions, research, residencies and events, at Forestry England, including Co-Directing Earth Photo. Previously Louise was Artistic Director of QUAD a center for contemporary art and film for 20 years. Director of FORMAT International Photography Festival for 18 years, which she co-founded in 2004, currently Patron of FORMAT. An independent curator since 1998 directing commissions, publications, performances and exhibitions. A Guest Curator for international exhibitions/festivals including Dong Gang (Yeongwol) South Korea; Photoquai Biennale Musée du quai Branly Paris; Les Rencontres Arles, Discoveries; Dali Photo, China; Venice Biennale EM15; Photo Beijing, and LishuiPhoto China; Korea International Photo Festival. An international award nominator, she has also contributed to numerous publications as producer/writer/editor and a regular juror, portfolio reviewer, speaker in Europe, America, Africa & Asia.
Joanne Junga Yang
Artistic Director, Korea International Photo Festival.
Joanne Junga Yang is an artistic director, curator, juror, lecturer, portfolio
reviewer and writer in the field of photography, working within a wide range
internationally.
Joanne is the artistic director of Korea International Photo Festival (KIPF) which
has been held at Hangaram Art Museum of Seoul Arts Center in Seoul, South
Korea since 2018, and is also the director and curator of Y&G Art Global
contemporary project, collaborating with galleries, magazines and private
museums on curating and collecting. She has organized and curated a variety of
exhibitions on contemporary art and photography, such as Dong Gang
International Photography Festival, Seoul Photo Festival and many more. She
received The Art and Culture Award for Curating of the Seoul Photo Festival
(2011) from the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and she was appointed as
Director of the International Committee by the Seoul Metropolitan City
Government. Joanne is author of many articles on photography, and has
interviewed international artists for such diverse magazines as Korea Monthly
Photography, PhotoDot, Monthly PhotoArt, Art Now and more.
Anne Nwakalor
Anne Nwakalor is the Founding Editor of No! Wahala Magazine, one of Africa's first-ever contemporary photography magazine dedicated to showcasing authentic visual stories told by African creatives.
She is also a Photo Editor and presently works as a Communication Officer within the art space in the UK
Anshika Varma
Anshika Varma is a photographer and curator with an interest in personal, collective and mythical histories. Through her work in book making, she is interested in exploring the intricate relationship between memory and object as markers of one’s identity. She is the founder of Offset Projects, an artist initiative looking at exploring authorship and the democratic dissemination of artistic expression through the book form to break notions of exclusivity in access and readings/ ownership of photography.
Anshikas’ curations and works have been shown at Goa Photo , Chennai Photo Biennale, Photo Kathmandu, Angkor Photo Festival, Tbilsi Night of Photography,Kochi Biennale, New York Biennale for Contemporary Art and Florence Biennial.
She is a strong believer in the power behind inclusive education and has conducted art therapy programs for children from challenging social and economic strata in Cambodia and India.
