10 Nov 2012 - 13 Jan 2013

Rafal Milach (Poland, b. 1978) became completely fascinated by Russia and the seven people whom he followed intensively for years. 7 Rooms is the portrait of a generation of Russians who are trapped between the mentality of the old Soviet regime and the ambitious but uncertain Russia of the Putin years.

Gala, Lena, Stas, Mira, Vasya, Sasha and Nastya live in suburbs of Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Krasnoyarsk. These men and women, now in their thirties, can still remember the years of perestroika and glasnost, and the collapse of the Soviet Union which followed in 1991. They want to be free and to travel abroad, but they cannot afford the purchase of a small apartment.

They are proud, and neither poor nor rich. The central figures in Rafal Milach's exhibition are ordinary citizens who, despite their sometimes strange, colourless surroundings, seem to have needs, experiences and thoughts that come across as surprisingly familiar.

© Rafal Milach

Noorderlicht Photogallery
Akerkhof 12, Groningen NL
Wednesday - Sunday
noon - 6 p.m.
Admission: FREE

On 9 November the first exhibition of The Sweet and Sour Story of Sugar opens in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is also the première of this project.

Six internationally renowned photographers began travelling for Noorderlicht in 2011 to record the sugar industry – or what is left of it – in The Netherlands, Suriname, Brazil and Indonesia. All the photographers produced work in both a former Dutch colony and in The Netherlands. The project The Sweet and Sour Story of Sugar will be exhibited in all these countries.

Through a unique ‘open source’ formula, the cultural institutions with which Noorderlicht is collaborating will be free to use the work resulting from the commissions, and an archive of historical images. The Langgeng Art Foundation is the first organisation to present an exhibition about the story behind a kilo sack of sugar, assembled according to their own interpretation from the photo material available.

Participating photographers

• Alejandro Chaskielberg (Argentina) 
• James Whitlow Delano (Japan/US) 
• Ed Kashi (US) 
• Carl de Keyzer (Belgium)
• Tomasz Tomaszewski (Poland)
• Francesco Zizola (Italy)

© Ed Kashi/VII, © Francesco Zizola/NOOR

The project is made possible by Arts Collaboratory Foundation - a programme by Mondriaan Stichting, Hivos and Stichting DOEN - and SNS REAAL Fonds.

During August and September 2012, CNN-photo made six articles about the project, presenting photographs by and interviews with each participating photographer.

For Noorderlicht the 19th edition of the Noorderlicht Photofestival was an exciting experience, with new and different locations spread across Friesland, an extensive outdoor exhibition for our first-time-ever, and a theme prompted by the focus and location of the main site, Museum Belvédère. And all the while, the organization had to be fighting for its life.

Happily, our regular visitors were able to find us at the new locations too, and many new visitors joined them in coming to Terra Cognita. Particularly the outdoor exhibition at Museum Belvédère proved to be a drawing card. All the participating locations drew more visitors than normal, and the lecture programme was well attended. De Volkskrant called Terra Cognita "surprisingly contemporary". We are pleased with the outcome, and can look back on the event with satisfaction.

App

For anyone who wants to see the photos from Terra Cognita another time, they are on the site, but also on the free Noorderlicht-app for iPhone.

Photofestival 2013

In 2013 the Photofestival will again take place in Groningen. This will be the 20th edition, for which  we will be working with not one, but several themes. The first of these is To Have And Have Not: about the causes of the present economic crisis. Photographers, curators and artists can already submit work for it here (deadline: 11 January, 2013).

© Ingrid Struijk

What 2013 will bring for Noorderlicht is still unclear, but the future does not appear too rosy. It is true that we have been able to keep our place in the National Basic Infrastructure (BIS), but our subsidy from the national level was cut from 550,000 to 200,000 Euro. Noorderlicht can not continue to exist in its present form with a budget shortfall of that size. 

Noorderlicht likes making friends – friends who are as contrary as we are, who value quality above quantity, whose view of the world goes beyond the end of their nose, and above all, who love photography very, very much.

For only 25 Euro per year you can become a Friend of Noorderlicht and support our activities. Your support is needed, and very deeply appreciated. 

© Venetia Dearden / photographer Terra Cognita