Festival La Gacilly-Baden Photo 2023

he Festival La Gacilly-Baden Photo is entering its sixt year. It appeals strongly to visitors by presenting themes of a clearly humanist orientation. In 2023 its 35 exhibitions deal with a variety of aspects in the relations between humans and their environment.

The festival extends over a length of 7 kilometres – divided into a “garden route” and a “town route”, starting from the visitor center on Brusattiplatz. Integrated into the public space are about 1,500 photographs, some as large as 280m².

It is the largest outdoor photo festival in Europe. In 2022, a total of 485,277 visitors attended the La Gacilly-Baden Photo Festival and its exhibition partners in Tulln and Celje. While 103,207 guests visited Tulln, 142,000 photo enthusiasts saw the exhibition on peace in Celje. Admission is free.

ORIENT! focuses on photographers from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Three countries that all belong to the Persian cultural area. Three predominantly Muslim countries with Indo-European populations that remain subject to the laws of religion and obscurantism. Three countries that we know little about, although they have captured the hearts of all travellers like Marco Polo. Three countries whose photographers are the defenders of positive thinking and ambassadors of environmental awareness. Three countries that are home to a millennia-old civilisation, a unique artistic creativity and courageous authors who have chosen photography to define their place in society. Photographers from these countries have always chosen to break conventions in order to develop an innovative style and look at people and gods with a humanistic eye. Honour to whom honour is due: Abbas, Gohar Dashti, Ebrahim Noroozi, Maryam Firuzi, Hashem Shakeri, Paul Almasy, Véronique de Viguerie, Fatimah Hossaini, Shah Marai and Wakil Kohsar, Sarah Caron.

Since its inception, the festival has never wavered from its mission to show the beauty of nature as well as to address the need to protect it. Through the prism of photography, we aim to highlight the challenges of a sustainable world without naivety. At the same time, the sometimes dramatic reality is never disregarded. All photographs are signs of our unshakeable belief in the future. The photographers at our festival are determined to be witnesses and part of the effort to preserve our most beautiful common asset – planet Earth: Mélanie Wenger, Bernard Descamps, Gabriele Cecconi, Stephan Gladieu, Money Sharma, Reporters Without Borders, Antonin Borgeaud, Jérôme Blin, Alisa Martynova, Maxime Taillez, Chloé Azzopardi.

This year, the bilateral photo project of the Morbihan schools in Brittany and Lower Austria is dedicated to the theme of openings. Whether in the literal or figurative sense, the concept of opening also encompasses communication and journeys to new places or people. Ultimately, it raises the question of the construction of our individual and collective identity and our relationship with others.

Photography undoubtedly remains the most incisive tool for changing public opinion and for preserving glimmers of humanity. The Austrian photographers Rudolf Koppitz and Horst Stasny also stand in this tradition. From Gregor Schörg, the festival will show the second part of his work on the wilderness area Dürrenstein-Lassingtal. The exhibition  of Lower Austrian professional photographers and the exhibition of the winning photos of the world’s largest photo competition, CEWE’s „Our World is Beautiful„, with almost 700,000 pictures from 170 countries, will round up the festival, as will the retrospective of 2021 in the pictures of the artist in residence Pascal Maitre. A photographic highlight is the commissioned work to Cathrine Stukhard, who visited the World Heritage Site of Vichy and placed it in the context of UNESCO’s eleven „Great Spa Towns of Europe“, which also includes Baden near Vienna.

Under the guiding principle of Culture of Solidarity, the cooperation with the festival partners Garden Tulln, Celje in Slovenia and Month of PhotographyBratislava will continue in 2023.

The La Gacilly-Baden Photo Festival will take place from 15 June to 15 October 2023.
The Media Day will take place on 11 August 2023 and the Long Night of Photography on 12 August 2023.

‍